


For the one true love

by WiseDragonGirl (Verhalengrot)



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Canon compliant for the most part, Canonical Character Death, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Fred Weasley Lives, Friends to Lovers, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Magic, Manipulative Albus Dumbledore, Naked Cuddling, Non-Explicit Sex, Paranormal, Platonic Love, Romantic Fluff, Sex, Unconditional Love, Unrequited Love
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-30
Updated: 2020-03-30
Packaged: 2021-02-28 23:08:41
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 11
Words: 38,758
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23395288
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Verhalengrot/pseuds/WiseDragonGirl
Summary: Love: the things we do for it. Andy never chose to fall in love with the soon-to-be Death Eater whose heart belonged to the beautiful Gryffindor, but it had happened regardless. This story will take you on a journey – their journey – about love and pain, foreign magic, and intriguing Muggles, as the story about the Boy-Who-Lived and the Dark Lord unfolds around them.
Relationships: Lily Evans Potter & Severus Snape, Severus Snape/Original Male Character(s)
Comments: 8
Kudos: 57





	1. Studying at Hogwarts

**Author's Note:**

> First I want to thank my wonderful beta-reader OllieMaye, whose input has been invaluable, and Kumikoko, who helped me with the opening scene of the second chapter.
> 
> A few notes about my story:
> 
> This story is canon compliant for the most part; the story of Harry remains unchanged. Everything he did in books 1-7 he will do in this story. Minor changes were made to give my OC a part in the story, but his influence on Harry’s story is minimal. Most canonical deaths remain, but not all. In a few scenes where my OC is present in the story of Harry, I used dialogue from the books. Most scenes take place outside Harry's story.
> 
> I used this OC in a few other fanfics too; as some people like to use their favourite canon character in different AU’s, I was curious to see how this character would do as a wizard instead of the Pokémon Trainer he originated as. That my mind gave me a very vivid image of him and Snape naked in bed didn’t help.
> 
> Lastly, the first chapter is like an introduction which explains how the pairing OC/Snape came to be while this story is also about Snape & Lily. Please bear with me, I promise things get more exciting in chapter 2 when the naked cuddles (and more) begin.

It was a warm day towards the end of the year, and the 5th year students were studying hard for their O.W.L.s. Most had stayed indoors, but some had decided to study outside.

Under a tree was Severus Snape, hunched over a book; his greasy black hair fell forward. Next to him a student lay on the grass with his robe tucked under his head. Pale legs were stretched out, only a part of it covered by green shorts, and he wore an orange T-shirt with a sun on it and the text ‘I’m brilliant’ under it. His blond hair, matching Severus’s length of hair, was kept together with a simple elastic band.

“Andy, you really should be studying.”

“I probably should,” Andy replied, “but maybe there is a reason why the Sorting Hat decided I was better off in Hufflepuff than Ravenclaw. It was all like: ‘oh, you would do well in Ravenclaw’, and then I was like ‘that sounds like hard work’ and then the Hat went: ‘very well. Hufflepuff!’… I love that Hat.” He took a moment to look at his studying friend. “Why don’t you come sit in the sun for a change?”

Severus glanced to Andy, shook his head and turned his attention back on his book. “Do you even know what you want to become later?” he asked.

“I haven’t got the slightest idea,” Andy admitted, closing his eyes again, “but whatever it will be, I will be awesome at it. I will be the best wizard there ever was! I’m surprised they haven’t given me the Order of Merlin yet.”

“If you want that boast to be true one day, you will have to work for it.”

“Someone as amazing as me?” Andy asked with a chuckle and only briefly opened his eyes to catch Severus’s annoyed glance. “Don’t worry, I studied. And to be honest, I really don’t care about the Order of Merlin.” When Severus didn’t respond Andy looked up and then followed his gaze. There was Lily, talking with a few female friends.

“She’ll never forgive me for calling her a Mudblood yesterday,” he muttered bitterly.

“She’ll come around and notice what a great guy you are,” Andy promised him. “You’ve been friends for so long; it may have given a dent, but I don’t think the damage is irreparable.” When some familiar laughter reached his ears, Andy turned his attention to a group of young men, some Gryffindors who seemed to enjoy bullying Severus. And people claimed all evil wizards came from Slytherin…

The leader of the group, James Potter, tried to impress Lily, but his efforts were fruitless. “They used your own spell against you and humiliated you,” Andy commented, moving his attention from the Gryffindors to Severus. “I can’t believe you’ll let it slide like that.”

“You think it will make them stop bullying me if I retaliate? Potter can’t do anything wrong, he’s their champion.” His voice dribbled with disgust.

“I will curse him for you, just say the word.”

“Don’t bother.” Severus looked at Andy. “And please don’t spread the word I invented the Levicorpus Jinx. There is a reason I used a pseudonym.”

“Your secret is safe with me.” Andy closed his eyes again, enjoying the sun for a while longer. He had been studying and felt confident in the O.W.L. exams that had yet to come, so for now he just wanted to take it easy and enjoy the day.

A gang of Slytherins approached and Andy looked up. They asked Severus to join them, who vacillated for a moment, then nodded and walked away with them. Andy watched him leave. Of course Severus wanted to be with his Slytherin friends, too; he couldn’t blame him. But he wouldn’t sit there by himself either, so he got up, put his robe back on, cursing its existence on the warm day, and went out to find some other Hufflepuffs to spend some time with. Once more he thanked the Sorting Hat for not putting him in Ravenclaw; he hadn’t seen a single fifth-year Ravenclaw outside today. They were most likely all either cooped up in their House, or in the library.

* * *

During their sixth year, when Severus wasn’t spending with his Slytherin friends, which was most of the time, he looked for Andy’s company. Even though the Hufflepuff didn’t seem to take his studies very seriously, he always seemed to do well on tests. He recalled Andy once saying that just because he hadn’t seen him study didn’t mean that he hadn’t studied. 

They were on their way to Study of Ancient Runes, the only class they had together, and Andy was talking about what he had learned in the class prior to this, but Severus seemed far from interested.

“Why are you even taking Muggle Studies?” There couldn’t have been more disdain in Severus’s voice even if he tried.

“Because they are intriguing,” Andy said. “They can’t rely on magic like us and still they do reasonably well for themselves.”

The derogatory sound coming from Severus clearly illustrated how he felt about that. “I don’t know why I even spend time with you.”

“Because of my dashing good looks!”

Severus narrowed his eyes. “Try again.”

“I know…” Andy sighed. “I don’t have green eyes. If I did then I’m sure-”

“Careful now,” Severus interjected.

“Speaking of green eyes, have you asked Lily out yet?”

“She… carefully avoided the question when I tried to ask if she wanted to go to Hogsmeade together. She refuses to talk with me since the day I called her a Mudblood, but…” he made a helpless gesture with his arm. “I love her, Andy. And I want her to know I’m sorry, and that she’ll see me as more than someone she knows from her childhood.”

Andy put a comforting hand on the shoulder of his friend. “As long as she doesn’t say she doesn’t love you or starts dating someone else, you have a chance. Let’s just go look at some dusty old runes and be amazing at that! And tomorrow we will go to Hogsmeade together.”

“I’m going to study.”

“I will drag you there if I have to.” There was a daring look in Andy’s eyes, a look Severus had learned to recognise.

“Fine, I’ll go,” Severus sighed, knowing his friend wouldn’t let him study in peace now that his mind was set on going to the village. It was something he’d rather do with Lily, but as she seemed to be going with her friends… Severus sighed again. Maybe he would be able to show Lily how good he was, she’d definitely want him if he could prove his worth.

The next day they went into the village and entered Hog’s Head. Fewer students came here, but it was a place where Severus’s friends went to. Since Andy didn’t mind where they would drink, as long as he could have a drink with Severus, he went to the Hog’s Head with him. Soon they sat at a table and both had a butterbeer in front of them. They talked about their classes when Lucius Malfoy suddenly stood in front of their table. “Andrew,” he greeted Andy as he locked eyes with him.

“Lucy!” Andy replied with a broad grin which grew when Lucius’s mouth twitched at the nickname. “I haven’t seen you since you graduated from Hogwarts! I hope you have been well.”

“Don’t call me that,” Lucius hissed.

“And I prefer to be called Andy, so…”

Lucius’s mouth twitched again, but he gave a slight nod. “Point taken. Well then, Andy, my family will be organising a party and as a pure-blood, I want to invite you. Severus is also coming.”

“I heard about that,” Andy said. “It’s very kind of you, but I will have to decline. Me and my pure-blood brother are going on a trip. I’d invite you, but it sounds like you will be busy with a party, so…”

Lucius bent over the table. “Don’t decline it so lightly, Bansing. This is the time you should be forging alliances that matter.”

“I will keep it in mind,” Andy promised him and watched him walk away, his eyes darkening. “That pure-blood nonsense again,” he muttered when he was certain Malfoy was out of earshot. He would have preferred to be invited because they wanted him, not because he happened to have a wizard and a witch as parents, who also happened to have wizarding parentage.

“At least you are one,” Severus replied. “It’s a good thing. You should be proud of it.”

“And that is coming from you? Wizards coming from a mixed background or Muggle parents can be great wizards. There are plenty of pure-bloods who get bad scores on their O.W.L.s and you, with your mixed blood, are an intelligent and talented wizard.”

“Will you not mention my background again?” Severus hissed. “Lucius is right, you should join us.”

“I’m not much of a group person, so I will decline his offer. I disagree with his views on Muggles or Muggle-borns.” Andy shook his head as he stared into his drink. “This pure-blood supremacy is not something I want to be a part of.”  
  
“Be careful, people might think of you as a filthy blood traitor.”

Andy frowned briefly at him and he shrugged his shoulders. “I don’t care what people think of me. And neither should you.” The two stared at each other until Andy broke eye contact and drank from his butterbeer. “It’s a shame you didn’t take up Care of Magical Creatures. It’s hard to see the differences of each other’s background when covered in centaur manure together.”

“I don’t see the appeal of that class.”

“No, you like your potions and dark magic, I know. And you’re good at it too.”

“You’re almost as good as me when it comes to Defence Against the Dark Arts,” Severus mentioned

“Almost. But I’m better at Charms. And History of Magic.”

“I don’t even take history.”  
  
“See? Even if I’m the worst of my class, I’ll still be better than you.”

“I somehow doubt you’re the worst of your class if you’re in the top five of Ancient Runes.”

Andy didn’t comment on that; he just winked and sipped from his drink. A rare smile appeared on the face of Severus as he too drank from the Butterbeer.

* * *

Even though Andy tried to help Severus win the love of his life, even going so far as trying to set up a date with Lily, it didn’t help. In their seventh year Lily started dating James Potter. In the end, she was never able to forgive Severus for calling her a Mudblood. She saw it as proof of how he viewed her ‘kind’ and that he had chosen his path. Of course she wasn’t wrong; Andy knew that. He too had tried to talk him out of joining the Death Eaters, but the Dark Arts appealed to Severus and he was drawn to the power of that group like a moth to a flame.

Severus watched Lily and James holding hands as they walked through the snowy streets of Hogsmeade, bitterness etched on his face. “Out of all people, why Potter?”

“How about I enchant a frog to climb up under his robe and bite him in his arse,” Andy suggested.

“Pranks won’t solve anything,” Severus spat. “If Lily is happy with him, then I won’t try to break them up. Her happiness… is more important.” He noticed some of his Slytherin friends and stepped in their direction. “I wonder why…” he began with a bitter voice, “it’s so hard to love me.”

“It’s really not,” Andy said and watched as Severus turned around to look at him. “If I can, I’m sure someone else can too.” He smiled when he saw how Severus tried, but hopelessly failed, to determine how he felt about that statement. “Your friends are waiting,” he said, gesturing with his head to the group of Slytherins. “I’ll see you back at Hogwarts.”

As Andy had said, he returned to Hogwarts. Alone. Why was he so drawn to Severus Snape? Where Severus was pessimistic, he was an optimist. And they had disagreed on several occasions about Muggles and pure blood. Not to mention how he had witnessed Severus being drawn to dark magic. And yet, the way he took his studies seriously, his intelligence, it showed he had lots of potential. He certainly wasn’t evil in nature; James Potter would have mysteriously died by now if that had been the case. On the contrary, Severus was capable of a deep love many wouldn’t understand.

He recalled watching Severus in their fourth year once, sitting alone. Something about that self-chosen solitude had stirred something inside him. Andy had joined Severus and that had been the beginning of their friendship, even though Severus had seemed annoyed more than anything when Andy had first intruded his solitude. In the beginning he had tolerated his presence, but somewhere along the way Severus had opened up to him.

After dinner in the Great Hall, Andy went on his way to his House, but when he heard Severus call his name, he stopped and waited for him.

“Why did you say what you said to me in the village?” Severus asked, poking Andy’s chest with a bony finger. “Was that some attempt to cheer me up?”

There was only one thing he had said that could make Severus react like this. “No,” he stated, putting a hand to his side as he took on a casual pose. “The offer of the biting frog was an attempt to cheer you up. You asked a question and I answered it. You are the one who wanted to know if it was difficult to love you and I say it’s not. And I can speak from experience.”

“Why?”

“You have to be more specific.”

Severus grabbed Andy’s arm and dragged him to a more secluded place to talk. “Every dance that was held at school, you attended it with a girl.”

“Of course, I didn’t want to go by myself. And I don’t know if you have noticed, but we have some good-looking girls in Hufflepuff.”

“Then how can you say you love… me?”

“Because I do?”

Why?”

Andy rubbed the back of his neck as he tried to find a satisfactory answer for Severus. “Why do you love Lily?” he asked.

Severus blinked at the question, trying to come up with an answer.

“Exactly.” Andy scratched his head and sighed. “Look, I don’t know why I love you. I can certainly name a couple of things about you I like, but loving you was never a conscious decision, I just do. And I’m not asking you to return that love. I know who your heart belongs to. But I will be there for you if you need me, okay?”

Severus didn’t know what to say, but he nodded. And after Andy smiled, winked, and walked away, Severus stayed where he was, watching his friend go. But he didn’t want him to leave and he ran forward to grab Andy’s arm.

“I…” he began as Andy’s grey-blue eyes settled on him. “I’m not gay.”

“No, how you felt about Lily clearly showed that. But I’m not convinced you’re straight either.”

Severus blinked, releasing Andy’s arm. “Why do you say that?”

“Are you attracted to women in general, or just Lily? Because every time we talked about boys and girls, you seemed rather indifferent to it all.” He put a hand on Severus’s cheek. “It would be good if you would start dating someone else instead of longing for someone you can’t have. It might take your mind off her.”

“I’m not ready…”

“Of course you’re not. You’re still hurt over Lily and that is normal. Just don’t close your heart to everyone, okay?” He leaned forward, looking deep into Severus’s eyes, and pressed a gentle kiss on his lips when he didn’t back away. “Don’t be afraid to love.”

“You?”

“Me, you, a girl from your house. I don’t care, as long as you are happy.” He leaned forward so he could whisper in his ear. “The Death Eaters won’t make you happy, please don’t go down that path.” As he took some distance again he smiled at Severus. “If it’s not love you want but just a good time,” he began, the smile turning into a grin. “I’m down for that too. You know where to find me.” With a wink he walked away and he heard Severus walk away too, most likely back to his own House.

He still felt the kiss on his lips... it only made him want to do that again, but he couldn’t. It would be too soon; Severus would need time to come to terms with his unrequited love for Lily. Andy sighed; how he knew that feeling. It stung knowing he would never really have him, even if he would come to him. Severus would never stop loving Lily.


	2. Kissing the Death Eater

Robes lay discarded on the floor as Andy and Severus lowered themselves on the bed during a passionate kiss.

“I love you,” Andy whispered, a sentiment Severus didn’t return. He never did, at least not vocally, but the way his hands moved over his body showed how much he wanted to be here as well.

In their last year at Hogwarts they had snogged several times, hidden in empty corners of the castle when no-one was around. After their graduation three months earlier, they had gone out for drinks a couple of times, but hadn’t spent much time together. When Andy had invited Severus, who had accepted the invitation, it hadn’t taken them long to find their way to the bedroom.

A hand was brought to Andy’s hair, pressing against it softly before the pale fingers nimbly began to sift through the strands. Severus tug on the elastic hair tie, then Andy’s hair cascaded around his face.

“Oh,” he muttered softly, shifting away from Severus to touch his own hair, distracted by the sudden sense of vulnerability he felt. The removal of his clothes hadn’t bothered him; it hadn’t been the first time he as naked with someone. But something about his hair being loose made this moment real, giving him pause. But the way Severus stared at him, as if he were the light in his otherwise dark world, made him lean in for a new kiss, a kiss passionately returned by Severus.

He didn’t think about Severus being a Death Eater now. In this embrace he couldn’t care less. This was just the man he loved.

Their hands began to roam their heated bodies. They were touching, mapping each other’s form out, tracing the subtle muscles underneath. Andy’s hand slid along the straight line of Severus’s side to rest at his firm hip.

Out of the corner of his eye he noticed the Dark Mark on Severus’s forearm turn jet black. It twisted and strained against Snape’s pale skin, urgent and demanding. “You better go,” he said between heavy breaths as he reluctantly released him. “Voldy needs you.”

“Speak with some respect about our Dark Lord,” Severus snapped as he hastily grabbed his robe and pulled it over his head, feeling the heat of the Mark conflict with the heat of desire he had to hide underneath his large robe.

“You know I don’t respect him or his views,” Andy reminded him.

They looked at each other for a second before Severus Disapparated to answer the call of his Dark Lord, leaving Andy behind.

Sighing, Andy rested his head on the pillow. Of course Severus would run to his master the moment he called; Death Eaters were supposed to do that. They had a cruel master who didn’t like to wait.

While he knew Severus was a Death Eater, he didn’t know what he did and truthfully, he didn’t want to know. And he would defend anyone against any Death Eater, but he hadn’t joined the Order of the Phoenix to do so.

After lying there for a moment, Andy pulled his hair back in a simple ponytail and collected his clothes to put them back on. Severus could be gone for hours or even the rest of the day, so he might as well get some work done too. He had a study to finish and had agreed to have a drink with Arthur Weasley in the afternoon.

It had been several months since they had both graduated from Hogwarts and while Severus had immersed himself in the Death Eater cult, Andy had started doing research on magical beasts through literature and field work. While he had a few subjects he wanted to explore deeper he couldn’t leave on a long trip. He had Severus whom he didn’t want to leave behind and he hoped he would be able to somehow get him to leave the Death Eaters, but so far his attempts had been fruitless.

Voldemort had approached him once, offering him a position as a Death Eater, but Andy had declined. Maybe Severus had been behind that, he didn’t know. As he learned later, James and Lily had also been offered positions, but they too had refused. Severus had told him about that, bitter that Lily hadn’t wanted to join them. He sighed as he closed his eyes, it sting knowing Severus’s heart still belonged to Lily.

Severus didn’t return to Andy’s house until the evening. He Apparated into the kitchen as Andy tried to decide what he wanted to eat.

“Did you eat already?” he asked after checking to see who had appeared, to which Severus shook his head. “How about some…” he pulled a pack of spaghetti from the cupboard to check the date, “spaghetti?”

“You don’t even like to cook.”

“No, but a man’s got to eat.”

“Get a house-elf.”

“I’m against slavery.”

Severus rolled his eyes but chose not to comment on that, not wanting to get into that discussion again.

“So, what did Voldy want from you?” The death glare was lost on Andy, who had his back at him. “I don’t need the details, but it would be nice if you could spend the night.”

“He won’t summon me for the next few days and I don’t have to leave immediately.”

Andy looked over his shoulder. “I’m glad to hear that. We were having such a good conversation when you left, I’d like to continue that.”

“Me too.”

Andy dropped the open pack of spaghetti in the empty kettle. “Screw this, we’ll get take-away later.” With two steps he stood next to Severus and pulled him closer. Their lips touched and the longer the kiss lasted, the more passionate it became.

For the second time that day they went into the bedroom, their clothes removed and tossed aside even before reaching the bed. For the second time that day Severus pulled the elastic band from his hair and raked it with his pale, slender fingers.

Andy reached to his nightstand and took his wand. “And now I have two wands,” he stated with a grin.

Severus groaned.

“That didn’t sound like a groan of pleasure.”

“You’re killing the mood.”

Andy smiled at him and leaned forward. “Then it’s a good thing I know how to revive it too,” he whispered in Severus’s ear, his fingers trailing down from Severus’s shoulder, over his chest, teasingly slow over his hip and between his legs.

A second groan escaped Severus.

“Now that,” Andy whispered, “is more like it.” As their lips touched, their hands caressed whatever they could reach. Severus groaned against Andy’s lips when he massaged between his legs, arching his back to lean into that touch. He trailed his hand down between Andy’s legs while the fingers of his other hand got lost in Andy’s hair. Andy stopped breathing the moment Severus’s fingers wrapped around his shaft and released it in a moan.

“Enough foreplay,” Andy whispered; he muttered an incantation and some light sparkled over his penis; where Muggles had to rely on lube and condoms, this spell worked just as well. “Turn over,” he requested, and Severus complied.

Andy gently penetrated his lover, who couldn’t hold back a moan when it happened. Moving gently and slowly at first, he kissed Severus’s back, but when it was clear he could take it, his rhythmic thrusts went faster and deeper.

Andy let out a groan that faded into a whisper: "Severus, I love you."

“You feel so good,” Severus moaned.

Andy continued thrusting until the building pleasure reached its peak and he released it all in Severus. As he slowly withdrew, his fingers wrapped around his lover’s shaft and gently began stroking and pulling until he too reached the height of his pleasure.

Severus turned on his back and Andy lay down next to him, his fingers moving over the damp skin.

“I don’t know about you, but I want to do this more often,” Andy said.

“Me too,” Severus said, taking Andy’s face between his hands and kissing him.

The next morning Severus woke up and watched the sleeping Andy. They had ordered some pizza, a hearty Muggle dish that Andy had come to like. And to be fair, it hadn’t been bad.

Slowly Andy woke up too and smiled when he saw Severus. “Do you have time for breakfast?”

“I would have been gone already if that weren’t the case.” He paused when he noticed Andy was looking at his Dark Mark. “How did you know?”

“Know what?”

“That I was being summoned.”

“Well, a few days ago a Death Eater was bullying some Muggles and I stood between them. We battled and I wanted to get rid of the mask so I could identify him, but the only thing I manged to do was tear his sleeve off. As I heroically battled,” he ignored the eye-roll Severus made, “the Mark turned jet black, like yours, and he said I was in luck, because he had been summoned by the Dark Lord. And then he Disapparated.”

Severus nodded and moved to the edge of the bed. “I’ll be gone for a few days. Probably a week.”

“I will find something to do, don’t worry. I’ll still be here when you are back.”

“In an apartment surrounded by Muggles. I don’t know why you live here.”

Andy shrugged as he too got out of bed and collected some clothes to wear. “It belonged to my uncle. When he died, he didn’t leave it to anyone specific. And since I needed a place to live and no-one else wanted to live here, I took it.”

“So it belonged to your uncle.”

“Yes, he liked Muggle things… he was a bit eccentric.”

“Go figure, I always imagined you would be the eccentric uncle in the family.”

Andy laughed as pulled a T-shirt over his head.

They spent time together when they could, sometimes just to sit together and talk, sometimes to make love. Severus did insist on teaching Andy Occlumency, because he told Andy things he wasn’t supposed to tell and he didn’t want anyone to find out. Since Andy knew it could cost Severus his life if he was ever caught, he agreed and, much to Severus’s delight, he was a fast learner.   
Severus also asked him if he wanted to learn Legilimency, but Andy declined. He didn’t care for probing someone’s mind, he considered it a private place and it should private.

* * *

Two years went by, Andy was making a name for himself as a Magizoologist and Severus was still doing unsavoury things as a Death Eater.

One day, Andy was in his study when Severus rushed in. “He’s going to kill her!” His voice was on the edge of panic and he grabbed Andy, his fingers digging deep into the fabric of his clothes. “The Dark Lord, he decided the one mentioned in the prophecy I overheard is the son of Lily. I begged him to spare her, and he agreed, but… he broke his word before and Lily will never let anything happen to her son. She will die, Andy!”

Andy grabbed Severus’s face and looked him straight in the eyes. “Then go to Albus Dumbledore. He is the only one who can protect them. I will do what I can to save Lily from him, I will stand between them if I have to, but I’m not strong enough to take on Voldemort. Dumbledore is the only wizard I know strong enough to protect Lily. Go to him.”

“What makes you think he’ll listen to a Death Eater?”

“He will understand how deeply you love her. Trust me. Go to Dumbledore; he can help you better than I can. Just tell him you love her more than Voldemort and his ideas, because I know you do and he will see the truth in that.”

Severus stared at him. “Why do you even help me protect her?”

“Because I love you.” Andy gave him a quick kiss on the lips. “Go to Dumbledore.”

Severus nodded and left the study as quick as he had entered it. Andy sank back in his chair, rubbing his face.

As Andy has suspected, Dumbledore believed Severus and the Potters went into hiding. Severus then acted as a spy for Dumbledore. Andy didn’t like it one bit, but he helped him as well as he could. As Severus worried for Lily’s safety, Andy worried for Severus. If Voldemort found out it would be his end, and the thought of losing Severus was unbearable.

Then the day came that was the end of everything. Severus staggered into his study, his skin as white as a sheet. Halfway through the room he collapsed and buried his face in his hands, Andy rushed over to help him back onto his feet.

“What’s wrong?”

“Lily is dead!” Severus cried out, clutching Andy’s clothes.

“How…”

“He betrayed them, told the Dark Lord where they were. He killed them.”

“So, all three-”

“Her son survived,” Severus said, his voice hoarse. “She gave her life for him, and with that protected him. Harry Potter survived and the Dark Lord is gone.”

Andy held onto Severus, keeping him close to himself. “Gone for good?”

“Not according to Dumbledore,” Severus whispered. “He says he’ll return one day. Lily died for her son; we have to… we can’t let it be in vain. We have to protect Lily’s son.”

“Then I will do what I can to help him,” Andy promised.

“I will be a teacher at Hogwarts,” Severus continued.

“What?”

“Dumbledore offered me a position. As a former Death Eater, there aren’t many places I can work anyway, and Lily’s son will come to Hogwarts when he is old enough. I will start next school year.”

Andy nodded slowly, noticing how wet the Severus’s eyes looked. “You must do with your life what you feel is best, but don’t let Dumbledore decide your path.”

“I don’t have another place to go.”

“You can stay with me.”

A silence fell as the two men looked at each other. “I do believe Hogwarts will be the best place for me,” Severus eventually said. “I have to do something to keep my mind away from… I need time. Lily…” He closed his eyes. “I need time.”

Andy took in a deep breath before he spoke. “Well,” he said, forcing a smile on his face, “we can meet up in Hogsmeade when we are both free and you can come here during the holidays.”

Severus nodded and cupped Andy’s cheek. “Of course. We’re not breaking up, but teaching at Hogwarts, it’s the best course of action.”

“This will allow me to pursue some of the long-term projects I’ve had in mind,” Andy added. “I mean, the war is over, I don’t have to worry about your safety anymore. We can both do what we need to do now.” 


	3. Welcome to Hogwarts

It had been five years since Lily had died and Severus had agreed to teach at Hogwarts. Andy had travelled a lot during that time, visiting Africa and Asia to learn about the magical creatures residing there and meet the local wizarding communities. As time passed, he started focus to more and more on the large continent of Africa, but while he learned about interesting magical creatures and magic practised by African wizards, he knew that wasn’t the life meant for him. He was too far away from the one person he wanted to be with.

Now he found himself watching the phoenix belonging to Albus Dumbledore, pruning his feathers. The Headmaster had agreed to meet with him, but he was still in his private chambers, conversing with someone based on the faint mumbling Andy could hear, although the sounds of the whirring silver instruments made it difficult to hear. He took in the office he had been sent to a few times during his own years as a student. Bookcases full of books stood against the walls, and those parts that weren’t covered by furniture were filled with portraits of the previous headmasters and headmistresses, some peacefully snoozing, others curiously looking at him.

Fawkes gawked once, but Andy had his attention the shabby, tainted wizard’s hat on the shelf. The old Sorting Hat which had debated some time about which House to put him in.

A door opened and Albus Dumbledore strode in, Andy turned to face him and extended a hand to greet the headmaster.

“Thanks for meeting with me.”

Dumbledore shook his hand and took place behind his desk. “Please, take a seat,” he said, gesturing to an empty chair.

Andy nodded and sat down in the chair on the other side of the enormous, claw-footed desk.

“So, Andrew Bansing-”

“Please, Andy.”

Dumbledore nodded ever so slightly. “Andy. You wrote requesting a position at Hogwarts.”

“Indeed.” Andy put his elbow over the back of the chair as he looked at the Headmaster. “As you know, I’m going to work with Silvanus Kettleburn in two months, but I know that several creatures I want to study more closely reside in the Forbidden Forest. So, you will let me study them and in return I can teach your kids.”

Dumbledore nodded sagely. “I did read some of your publications. I especially liked your paper on ethics when studying the non-verbal intelligent beasts. But who can we contact to check your credentials?”

“Well, I worked with Marcus for a while, but it’s best you don’t contact him because we didn’t really get along.”  
  
“Marcus is awfully serious,” Dumbledore agreed.

“But Severus Snape knows me.”

“Professor Snape is an acquaintance of yours?”

Andy smirked and looked at a point passed Dumbledore as he thought back to all their moments together. “A bit more than that. But he doesn’t know I applied for a job here yet.”

“Well then, maybe we should let it be known. I will call for him, and in the meantime, we will discuss your old school records.”

Andy chuckled. “Oh dear, now I’m in trouble.”

Dumbledore smiled. “We’ll see.” He turned to the papers on his desk. “Hufflepuff, but the Sorting Hat wasn’t certain, I see here. It considered Ravenclaw too. And I see you had a knack for arguing with teachers.”

“I’d call it ‘debating’,” Andy interjected.

“Debating does sound more positive,” Dumbledore agreed as he scribbled something on the old file. “Your scores were good; some teachers did make some remarks about your attitude.” He looked at Andy over his glasses. “Some didn’t like it that you referred to yourself as, and I quote, “the greatest wizard who ever lived” at any opportunity that arose. Including when doing spells that either were only half-successful or failed completely.”

Andy laughed. “Well, Marcus didn’t like it that I called myself the best Magizoologist ever.”

“Are you?” Dumbledore inquired.

“Of course not. There are dozens of wizards and witches better than me.”

“Then why the boast?”

“Because life is too serious. Because I like to see how people react to it.”

Dumbledore continued to look over his glasses. “Is this a glimpse of the real you?”

“Enjoy it while it lasts, I rarely show it.”

That’s when the door opened and Severus Snape entered the office. “You wanted to see me?” he asked.

“Yes,” Dumbledore said and he gestured to a free chair. “Please join us. I understand you know Andy?”

Severus stared at Andy, not moving from his place in front of the door. “What are you doing here?”

“Hopefully getting hired within the next five minutes.”

“To do what?”

“Teach?” Andy replied

Severus turned to Dumbledore now. “Is there anything specific you needed me for?”

“A bit of background on him. Perhaps your history together?”

Severus was silent for a moment. “Our history is none of your concern, but know this: he knew I was a Death Eater, he even got invited to join us and declined. And he is the one who told me to seek you out when the Dark Lord had his eyes on the Potter family.”

“He knew I was leading the Order of the Phoenix,” Dumbledore said. “I had even asked him to join us, but he declined that too.”

Severus stared at Dumbledore and then at Andy.

“I didn’t need to be part of any group to protect Muggles or Muggle-borns from the Death Eaters,” Andy commented with a shrug. “I don’t need orders to do the right thing. I don’t really like taking orders,” he waved with his hand at the papers on the desk, “so you may note that as a downside on the application form.”

Dumbledore smiled at the remark but didn’t write anything down. “My brother once told me, when you and Professor Snape here were still students here and having a drink at the Hog’s Head, that Lucius Malfoy had invited you to a party, being a pure-blood wizard.”

“Yes,” Andy nodded as he recalled that, “I didn’t feel like mingling with those pure-blood supremacists. They wanted me to form alliances that mattered, and I did. After I graduated I started spending more time with the Weasleys. Met Lucius after my graduation a few times too; he called me a blood traitor. I called him a Flobberworm.”

“You called him Lucy once, didn’t you? My brother still giggles when he thinks back to, erm, ‘Lucy’s face’ when hearing that name.”

Andy burst out in laughter.

“So, Andy…” Dumbledore leaned back, stroking his long beard as looked at him. “You knew Severus was a Death Eater, you knew at least a few members of the Order of the Phoenix, and you never told the other party.”

“True. I didn’t want to get in the middle of that war. I did what I could for Muggles and Muggle-borns when I saw someone mistreating them, but I never wanted to be part of either side. But to be fair, all this is hardly relevant for getting a paying job that will allow me to do my research and get me enough vacation to travel to Africa for a month or two.”

“Yes, you spent quite some time there in the past few years, didn’t you?” Dumbledore said, looking straight at Andy, who met his gaze and they held eye contact for a moment. “You know what? You will give a guest lecture tomorrow for our sixth-years; you can choose what creature you will talk about. Depending on how the students rate it, I will hire you or not. Agreed?”

Andy nodded and held out his hand so they could shake on it.

When Andy left, Severus turned to Dumbledore. “You might as well hire him right now then.”

“How so?”

“The students will love him.” Severus turned around and left the room.

As Severus had predicted, the students enjoyed Andy’s lecture about Mooncalves. In the next meeting Andy had with the Headmaster of Hogwarts, they talked in more detail about the tasks he would get.

They agreed on lectures about his research to sixth- and seventh-year students, the elective Ethics course fifth-year students could take, and being a substitute teacher for Muggle Studies. His work would only take two days of the week to complete, which meant he could use the rest of the time for his research.

“Let me get this straight,” Severus said when they were standing near the Great Lake, looking out over the smooth surface. “You convinced Dumbledore to pay you and let you live here… for just two days of teaching, and you can spend the rest of the time doing research for yourself?”

“Well, Hogwarts will be mentioned as partner in every piece of research I publish while I’m employed here, but yes, that is basically it.”

“I don’t know how you convinced Dumbledore.”

Andy watched some ripples on the Lake’s surface, probably caused by something living in the water. “That sly fox probably thought of a use for me somewhere in his grand scheme. I am adding something new to the Hogwarts curriculum, Dumbledore will certainly appreciate that too, but we both know the real reason why he keeps Sybill Trelawney to teach Divination.”

Severus nodded and a serene silence fell between them. After a moment Severus turned to face Andy. “I missed your presence.”

Andy gently placed a hand on Severus’s cheek and pulled his gaze to meet his. “I missed you.” He bent forward until his lips brushed against Severus’s and the Slytherin wizard wrapped his arms around his neck to kiss him back.

Out of breath, Severus created some distance between them. “We mustn’t let others see us like that.”

“Have it your way.” Andy turned around to return to the castle. “My room is close to yours,” he added with a wink and he walked away.

That evening, Severus entered Andy’s office; the bedroom would be behind it. Right now, it had only basic furniture; a desk, some empty bookcases, a few chairs. He took in the room and tried to imagine how Andy would decorate it to make it his home, what items he would bring from his apartment.

“Do you like it?” Andy asked, spreading his arms as if the room was something magnificent to see.

“I came here for you.” Severus crossed the room and put his hand on the back of Andy’s head, pulling him in for a kiss. It didn’t take Andy long to wrap his arms around him to kiss him back.

“Is this my welcoming party?” Andy whispered in Severus’s ear.

“It is,” Severus said as he pulled his wand out of his sleeve. “I’m the one with two wands now.”

Andy’s smile showed he didn’t mind at all.

“Undress and lie down,” Severus demanded as he removed his own robe. Andy complied, and after he threw his clothes to the side he bent over the desk. Severus used the incantation for extra lube and stepped forward, grabbing Andy’s hips and carefully pushing his penis against the opening.

A moan escaped Andy’s lips as Severus pushed deeper inside. “Damn, this feels good,” he whispered.

Severus only managed to moan his agreement, closing his eyes as he started to gently thrust. When he found a rhythm that Andy could handle as well, his fingers trailed down and folded around Andy’s shaft, who gasped when the already sensitive member was being caressed. Severus made Andy come first, pausing his thrusting when he ejaculated with a heavy moan, and then continuing thrusting into his panting lover until he too reached the height of his pleasure and released everything inside him.

“Welcome to Hogwarts,” Severus panted as he stepped back, allowing Andy to rise.

Andy grinned and took Severus’s face between his hands. “I look forward to working with you,” he stated before kissing him passionately.


	4. The Muggle who sees it all / Harry's first year

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Did you wonder what the paranormal tag was about? That will be revealed here.

“He’s here!”

Andy looked up, noticing that Severus had a mixture of grief and panic in his eyes. “Lily’s son?”

“He’ll be sorted tonight. I saw him. He… has her eyes, but he is the spitting image of Potter.” The name was spoken with disgust.

“I’ll be by your side,” Andy promised, gently touching his lover’s cheek. “You know you don’t have to do this alone.”

That evening, Andy sat between Severus and Pomona Sprout. When the first student got sorted into Hufflepuff, he exclaimed: “Go Hufflepuff!” and high-fived Pomona. When it was Harry’s turn to be sorted, he put a hand on Severus’s leg to let him know he was there for him and watched it with the same curiosity as every teacher at the table. What House would be the House for the Boy Who Lived? After much deliberation, the Sorting Hat decided on Gryffindor and the table cheered. It wasn’t much of a surprise, seeing as both his parents had belonged to that house, but obviously the Sorting Hat had doubted. He glanced to Dumbledore, who kept his eyes on the sorting ceremony.

When everyone was sorted, Dumbledore held his opening speech.

“One final note,” he said at the end. “We have a counsellor for the Muggle-born wizards and witches for whom adjusting to the magical word is difficult. Professor Bansing here will be available the entire next week if someone feels the need to talk about it.”

“Sir, I have this gnawing feeling in my stomach!” Fred Weasley called through the Hall. “Am I homesick?”

“That is hunger!” Andy called back. “Eat something!”

“We can’t! The speech isn’t over yet!”

Andy looked at Dumbledore, who chuckled. “With that, all the official announcements are done. Let’s eat!”

The food appeared on the platters and Andy reached out to grab some.

“Remind me again,” Severus said next to him, “why Dumbledore thought a pure-blood wizard was the best to understand how Muggle-borns feel?”

“Because I’m awesome in everything I do?”

“Try again.”

Andy sighed. “Because there aren’t currently any Muggle-born professors, some of our talented half-bloods have plenty of tasks already, and our current Muggle Studies professor is very good at teaching about Muggles, but lacks the empathy to deal with homesick first-years who are in an entirely new and different world. Living in a Muggle apartment surrounded by Muggles makes me more equipped than others to understand them. You don’t need to be something to know what you’re talking about. You don’t have to be a potion to teach others how to make potions, right?”

Severus scowled at the comparison but nodded nonetheless; Andy had a point there.

As the first year of Hogwarts continued and the winter set in, Andy began losing interest in the boy. But Harry wasn’t on his mind when the Christmas presents came. One package contained a jumper knit by Molly Weasley, with the black and yellow Hufflepuff colours and a sleeping owl on it.

“It is amazing!” Andy said as he put it on. “I have to write a thank-you to Molly and take her and Arthur out for dinner.”

“Why are you so enthusiastic?” Severus asked.

“Because Molly is an absolute treasure. She knows I don’t have a girlfriend - I mean, I never mentioned us, so she sends me a knit scarf or jumper every year! She takes good care of me, just because I happen to be a friend of her husband.” He admired the garment. “And it looks good, doesn’t it?”

Severus examined it; he wouldn’t want to be caught wearing something like that, but somehow it seemed to work for Andy. The casual look suited him. He gave Andy his present too and Andy quickly opened it.

“Chocolate Frogs and Every Flavour Beans!”

“You must have a full collection of cards now.” He often gave the Chocolate Frogs, because he knew Andy loved getting them.

“Probably. And lots of doubles.” He opened the package of Every Flavour Beans and ate one. His face contorted when the sharp flavour filled his mouth.

“What do you do with your doubles?”

“Trade them with students or give them away. I don’t care that much about the cards, but the students love them. Especially the Muggle-borns, who are just starting with their collection.” He put a wrapped gift on the table. “Now open yours.

Severus carefully opened the package and looked at the small book with a nondescript leather cover. He opened the book and saw a few handwritten recipes with images of the ingredients used, frowning as he read them through. “I never heard of these.”

“I asked Elewa if he could share some recipes with you. He picked five and added information about the ingredients. If you want, I’ll bring back the ingredients after my next trip to Africa so you can try them. But I thought you’d like a book with some real potions that African wizards make. Elewa did request not to share these recipes; he doesn’t mind people learning their magic, but they must come to him first. He doesn’t want us to teach others what he teaches us in good faith.”

“Of course,” Severus said. He knew Andy had learned spells from African wizards, but he never said much more about it, just that Elewa didn’t want him to share those secrets. Severus hadn’t asked about what he had learned after Andy had explained that. “Please thank your friend the next time you see him.”

After Christmas dinner, Andy stood in the Great Hall with Severus, McGonagall and Dumbledore. Hagrid had left to make a round on the fields around Hogwarts, to ensure that everything was still in order.

“Why does everyone talk about him as if he defeated Voldemort?” he asked them; they had just been talking about Harry and how well he had adjusted to life in Hogwarts.

“What do you mean?” Dumbledore asked, still wearing his bonnet.

“He didn’t defeat him. His mother did through the sacrifice she made. He lived, yes, but in the end it wasn’t his magic that did it. Why is he celebrated and not his mother?”

“That is a good question,” Severus said. “I for one have not been giving him any special treatment, because he does not deserve it.”

“Why don’t you devote an ethics class to it?” Dumbledore suggested. “See what the students say about it?”

“I might wait until he’s in my class and ask him if he thinks the treatment he gets is fair.”

“That’s harsh,” McGonagall stated. “And you should be ashamed of yourself. The boy may not have defeated He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named, but when he survived the reign of the Dark Lord came to an end, so he became a symbol of hope. It’s not his fault people treat him like a hero. He lost his parents and had to grow up in a home where he found no love, I saw them. They are terrible people. I for one am glad he is here, where he belongs. And to ask him if all this is fair, when the boy wants nothing more than to have his parents in his life, I think that would be exceptionally cruel, and quite unethical.”

“My dear Minerva,” Andy said. “You are absolutely right. It’s probably difficult enough to suddenly be a celebrity in a world he has never been in, but I will not pretend that what he did was special when I know who the real hero in that story is.”

“I think,” Dumbledore mentioned, “you will make Harry very happy by treating him like a normal boy.”

Severus turned around. “I for one have had enough hearing about Potter,” he stated as he walked away, leaving the Hall through the giant doors. Andy was about to follow him when Hagrid ran inside, leaving a trail of melted snow.

“Professor Dumbledore, sir, the Muggle’s comin’ back.”

“Again?” Dumbledore asked, frowning as he thought about the implications of the news. For the past three days, a Muggle had come to the gate of Hogwarts, and every time he had turned around and left, obviously affected by the anti-Muggle spell, but why did he keep coming back?

“Maybe we can check it out,” Andy suggested. “Is he alone?” he asked, turning to Hagrid.

“He was with his friends only on tha’ first day. The other days he was alone, jus’ like today.”

Hagrid and the three professors went to the gate, their feet leaving a trail of footsteps in the snow, slowly being filled up with fresh snow falling from the sky. And sure enough, they saw a person with a hat over his blonde hair and a scarf under his winter coat walk to the gate, his eyes focussed on the castle in the distance, then on the half-giant and the professors. He seemed to be in doubt, almost turning around, looking at a paper and looking at the gate. He repeated the actions: turn around, look at the paper, turn back to the gate.

“He sees us,” Andy said. “He is looking straight at us.”

“Impossible,” McGonagall said. “Hogwarts is protected, Muggles only see a castle in ruins and a sign on the gate saying it’s dangerous to enter. And they can’t see us through the gate.”

“He can.”

“Maybe he’s not a Muggle, then,” Hagrid suggested.

“Then the spell that makes Muggles think about something important and leave wouldn’t affect him. And judging by how he moves, it does. He turned back all other times; that piece of paper is keeping him here.” Andy looked at the Muggle, who was looking at him. “I’m going to invite him in.” He started walking to the gate.

“Andy!” McGonagall called. “Don’t you think you should ask your Headmaster permission first?”

“You know what, Minerva,” Andy said as he turned around, but continued walking backwards, “I probably should.” Having said that, he turned around again and continued to the gate anyway.

“I don’t know why you just let him,” McGonagall said to Dumbledore.

“I found that Professor Bansing does his work best when he is least restrained. And I must admit, I too am curious about this Muggle.”

Andy reached the gate and smiled at the Muggle at the other side: a young man, probably early twenties. “Hello.”

“Hi…” the Muggle said. “I, erm…” He looked over his shoulder.

“You feel like you forgot something important? Let me help with that.” Andy took his wand and moved with it while muttering a spell. The Muggle blinked and seemed to relax. “There, no more urgent business, right?”

“What is this place? My friends saw a ruin and I can quite clearly see a castle.”

“Come in, I’ll show you.” With his wand he opened the gate. “My name is Andy.”

“Oh, erm. Benjamin.” He stepped through the open gate and looked around. “So… what is this place?”

“What? This? Nothing special, just Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Here we educate the witches and wizards of this part of the world.” The way Benjamin gaped at him said enough. “I’ll introduce you to the Headmaster, Professor Dumbledore. You’re the first Muggle to see through our defence.”

“Muggle?” Benjamin repeated.

“A person who can’t do magic. I’ll explain more about that later.” He brought them to the others. “These are Professor McGonagall and our Headmaster Dumbledore. The big guy over there is our Gamekeeper, Hagrid.” He turned to Dumbledore. “Albus, do you want to question him, or shall I take him for a meal and a hot drink in my office?”

“You know what, I am a very busy man and I have the utmost trust in you. See what you can learn and if you get stuck, you can bring him to me.” Dumbledore looked between Andy and Benjamin. “I will have to inform the Ministry of Magic about this, but for now, treat him as our guest.” He nodded a greeting to Benjamin and turned around, followed by McGonagall, who still didn’t seem convinced this was the right thing to do.

“Okay then,” Andy said, turning to Benjamin. “This way. Let’s get you warmed up. It must have been quite a walk through this snow.”

As they ploughed through the snow towards the castle, Andy began explaining about wizards, Muggles, Muggle-born wizards, wizard-born Muggles also known as Squibs, and wizards from mixed parents. Benjamin listened without asking questions, but he nodded occasionally to show he understood.

Inside the castle Andy brought him to his office and gestured to a chair. “I have some water in the kettle,” he said, nodding to the fireplace where a fire seemed to burn without wood. “Care for some tea?”

“I’d like that,” Benjamin said, taking off his coat and scarf, hanging them on the rack he spotted, and put his head on top of it. After that he sat down and waited for Andy to say something that would make sense of this situation.

Andy put some loose tea in a tea strainer and poured hot water over it. “Why do you think you can see what your friends could not?” Benjamin didn’t reply; he stared at a picture with people on it, but they moved. Andy turned around to see what had gotten his attention and smiled. “Yes, that is something Muggle-borns also have to get used to. Our pictures move. Why do you think you can see what your friends could not?”

“I… I’ve always been able to do that. I can see fairies and ghosts too.”

“Fairies hide behind magic, making them invisible for Muggles. And Muggles can’t see ghost, at best they can feel a haunted place is cold or creepy.”

“Wizards can see ghosts then?”

“We have several ghosts right here in Hogwarts. Everyone can see them.”

“Then maybe I am a wizard.”

“Unlikely.” Andy got some cups and filled them with tea. “We would have found out about you and send you an invitation to join Hogwarts at the age of eleven if that was the case. But we can put the Sorting Hat on your head, that can tell us if you are a wizard. And since Squibs can see things Muggles can’t, I’d like you to give me the names of your parents and grandparents so we can determine if you are wizard-born. Unless you were adopted?”

“Not to my knowledge, my mother talked about giving birth to me.”

“And they aren’t wizards?”

“If they are, they never told me.”

Andy gave him a small sheet of parchment and wanted to give him a quill, but reconsidered and opened a drawer to get a pencil instead. “Please write down their names, I’ll have someone look into it.”

When Benjamin was done, Andy wrote a message on it for Dumbledore, both requesting to look into the parents and to use the Sorting Hat, and folded it into a paper airplane. After whispering a spell to it, he opened the door and threw it into the air. “How did you end up near the gates of Hogwarts?” he asked as he closed the door and sat down at his desk.

Benjamin began explaining how he’d been on a winter camping trip with friends and one of their hikes had led them to the ruins. After their first visit they had this urge to go home, but his curiosity to the castle the others hadn’t seen had compelled him to stay behind. However, every time he had come to look at the castle he had remembered something urgent and went back. Instead of going home he had gone to the nearest place where he could make a call home every time, to make sure there was no reasons to go home. And for today he had decided on making a list that would remind him of his open schedule. It had helped him not leaving the gate, but he had been unable to shake the feeling he was forgetting something important, until Andy had taken that feeling away.

A few sharp knocks sounded on the door and Andy got up to see who was on the other side. Fawkes dropped the Sorting Hat on the floor, spread his wings and flew away again.

“Thanks Fawkes!” he called after the bird and picked up the tattered old hat. “Here, put this on your head.”

Benjamin took the hat, examining it before he put it on his head.

“Well, well, well, what have we here?” the Sorting Hat spoke.

The startled Benjamin looked around to see where the voice came from. Then he touched the brim of the hat, wondering if that could have been the source of the voice.

“Where would you sort him?” Andy asked.

“Sort him? I sense a good heart, but he is no wizard.”

“Okay,” Benjamin said as he removed the hat. “That is settled then.”

“But we haven’t ruled out Squib yet,” Andy reminded him. “Someone will have to check the names of your parents and grandparents, and be it wizard or Muggle, I don’t expect ministries to work so fast that we’ll have an answer by tonight.”

The door opened after a knock and Severus looked inside. His eyes settled on Benjamin and Andy quickly introduced the Muggle to him.

“Does Dumbledore know?” Severus asked and noticed Andy nod to that. “Very well then. I’ll come back later, when you’re not busy.” He stepped out again, closing the door behind him.

The next day, Andy kept Benjamin close, showing him around the castle, introducing him to some ghosts, and after dinner he took him to Hagrid’s hut for a cup of tea. They had received word that the next day the Minister for Magic would visit Hogwarts and Andy had just informed their guest about that.

“What will happen?” Benjamin asked.

“Well… in order to comply with the International Statute of Secrecy they will most likely use a Memory Charm.”

“Meaning?”

Andy looked at the young man walking beside him. “They will make you forget what you saw here.”

Benjamin stopped and so did Andy. “I will forget everything?”

“Not if I’ll have a say in it. Let’s go visit Hagrid first, we’ll worry about the rest tomorrow.”

Later that evening, Andy and Benjamin walked back to the room Benjamin was staying in, talking about Memory Charms and the International Statute of Secrecy. Andy explained that after the witch hunts, the wizards had decided to hide from Muggles, and that ever since, if a Muggle learned their secrets, their memories were wiped. When Benjamin asked why, Andy chuckled and said they might be able to use magic but would die from a gunshot just as easily as Muggles. And while they had defence against Muggles, they couldn’t defend themselves against drones dropping bombs, giving the wizard community plenty of reasons to want to stay hidden from Muggles.

“I understand,” Benjamin said, but he wasn’t looking at Andy. “Say, do people normally sneak around covered in a blanket here?”

“What?”

Benjamin pointed to the person covered in a blanket, but when Andy looked in that direction he frowned. He took his wand, aimed it where Benjamin was looking and said: “Ventus.”

A jet of spiralling wind released from the wand and took hold of the invisibility cloak Harry was hiding under.

“Professor Bansing,” Harry began.

“Relax,” Andy interjected. “When I was a student I sneaked around at night several times too, I’m not going to report you for doing that. Just don’t make a habit out of it, okay?” He gave him back his cloak. “Go back to your dorm.” After that, he beckoned Benjamin to walk with him again.

“It’s not allowed, then?” Benjamin asked.

“Students aren’t allowed to be outside their dorm at night.”

“You’d think they would think of something better to use than a blanket.”

Andy examined Benjamin. “He was wearing an invisibility cloak. I didn’t see him. How can you see through that?”

Benjamin shrugged; he didn’t know either.

After Andy had delivered Benjamin back to his room, and Benjamin had promised he wouldn’t sneak around like some students – a comment that made Andy laugh – he went to Dumbledore’s office. After saying the password he climbed the spiral staircase and knocked on the door. After getting permission to enter, Andy walked in, locking eyes with Dumbledore as he closed the door.

“How is our guest?”

“Probably asleep soon, although a bit worried about tomorrow.”

Dumbledore nodded. “And?”

“Harry is going in the direction of the place you hid that mirror, hidden under his invisibility cloak.”

“I will deal with that.”

“Benjamin saw him.”

Dumbledore stared at him. “Interesting…”

“I thought you’d like to know that.” He tapped his fingers against the side of his head. “Good night, I’ll come as soon as the Minister for Magic is here.”

The next day, Andy brought Benjamin to Dumbedore’s office and noticed his guest stared at all the whizzing and whistling contraptions. Cornelius Fudge was there, looking at Benjamin as an interesting specimen.

“So, this is the Muggle then,” he said.

“It is confirmed then?” Dumbledore asked. “He isn’t a Squib?”

“There are no known wizards in his family.” The minister turned to Dumbledore. “We’ll wipe his memory and return him home.”

“That won’t help,” Andy stated.

Cornelius had an annoyed glare for Andy. “Why do you say that?”

“We didn’t let him see anything. Obliviating him now will not prevent him from rediscovering the magical world later. He can see through magical illusions and he can see through concealing magic. He can see fairies and ghosts; I saw him talk with several ghosts of Hogwarts already, so I know he wasn’t lying about that. He saw Hogwarts for what it really was, and he saw through an invisibility cloak. He may not be a wizard, but he has an ability that I would like to learn more about. He is a Muggle with a paranormal gift.”

“Paranormal gift?”

“Yes. Like how some Muggles can see auras and there have been only a few wizards and witches who were able to see them, according to their own testimonies. Since that is something both Muggles and wizards share, it’s an ability not linked to magic. It’s a really interesting subject and I would like to work with Benjamin to discover more about that. I can’t do that if you wipe his memory.”

The minister turned to Dumbledore for help.

“I have to agree with Professor Bansing,” Dumbledore said. “I was thinking we could perhaps send a gnome with him, who can keep an eye on him and stop him if he’s about to reveal something he’s not supposed to.”

* * *

“Whatever happened to that Muggle?” Severus asked.

Andy and Severus were lying in Severus’s bed, Andy was drawing circles on Severus’s naked shoulder.

“He went home, for now. There will be an official hearing next week, so I’ll have more time to strengthen my already strong case, and Dumbledore will also speak on his behalf.”

“He will retain his memory,” Severus concluded

“I think so. If Malfoy doesn’t interfere, I think we can win this case. I proposed that Benjamin can help me with research about paranormal abilities in both Muggles and wizards. And he’s not the only Muggle who knows about the wizarding world, but he would be the first Muggle who hasn’t married a witch first or gotten a high Muggle position that justifies knowing about our existence. Regardless, with his ability, wiping his memory now will only delay the inevitable. I’m sure they will understand that if I explain it.”

Severus showed Andy one of his rare smiles. “I would be surprised if you wouldn’t be able to convince them.”

“How about you?” Andy asked as he wrapped his arms around Severus, who stroked his uncovered side with a finger. “Anything special going on?”

“Quirrell. I don’t trust him. He let the troll in… he might be after the Philosopher’s Stone.”

“I’m sure you and the others can keep it from him.” Andy kissed him on the forehead. “If I can do anything, just let me know.”

“Stay out of it; we’ve got it covered.”

Andy smiled. “Have it your way.” He leaned into kiss Severus on the lips.


	5. Clashing Egos / Harry’s second year

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Througout the story some magical things from Africa will pop up. These are all my creation as the HP canon doesn't go into detail about magic in that continent.

“Who did you ask?”

All professors had gathered in the Teachers’ Lounge and Albus Dumbledore had just informed them who the new Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher would be.

“Gilderoy Lockhart,” Dumbledore repeated patiently, smiling when he saw the reaction of the professors who knew Lockhart from when he was a student here at Hogwarts. Some had taught him, others had been four years ahead of him.

“Are you certain Hogwarts can handle two people with egos bigger than themselves?” Andy asked.

“As long as only one of them truly believes they are the great wizard they say they are, it will be fine.”

“I think it’s safe to say,” McGonagall added, “the teachers considered Lockhart to be much more of a nuisance than you were.”

Andy put his hand on his chest. “Now I’m hurt! Clearly I didn’t try hard enough!”

“Please, don’t try,” McGonagall sighed. “Don’t make me regret saying that.”

The second year was about to start and it didn’t take long for Gilderoy Lockhart to make himself unpopular amongst the staff. He talked about his adventures, his books, and his award-winning smile a lot.

One day Andy and Severus were enjoying a calm moment in the Teachers’ Lounge – it wouldn’t be long before the students would arrive – when Lockhart entered and started boasting about one of his adventures.

“Say, Andy,” Lockhart said as he sat down next to him, “I heard you travelled to Africa several times. I’m sure those must have been some fascinating travels.”

“It was okay, some interesting creatures. Interesting people too.”

“Surely you must have had some grand adventures?”

Andy shrugged to that. “That depends on what you define as ‘grand’, but I did experience some things there.”

“You must tell me about it one day.”

“Sure, but not now. I have to teach in a little while.” Andy got up, glancing at Severus who understood the silent invitation and joined him. “Maybe I’ll start writing books about my adventures, like you.”

A scowl flashed across Lockhart’s face, but he quickly hid it under a charming smile. “You should; people deserve to hear your adventures. If you need help with it, I’m an accomplished writer myself.”

“I know, I read your books.” Andy nodded a greeting and walked away, followed by Severus who regarded any excuse of not being in the same room as Lockhart a good one.

The year started off well enough, although Harry Potter and Ron Weasley had a rather unusual entrée this year. But one night, the Chamber or Secrets reopened.

From that moment on, the teachers tried to find a way to protect the students from harm. However, before Christmas, a cat, two students and a ghost were petrified. Of course, the duelling club Lockhart created was a good source of entertainment, at least according to Andy. Lockhart was no match for Severus and it showed. Harry being a Parselmouth was a curious development, but Andy had decided it was up to Dumbledore to worry about that.

Valentine’s Day was… eventful, with the dwarves and their golden wings. Andy had to try his best not to laugh when he saw the death glare from Severus when Lockhart suggested he could make love potions for students. He had given his gift in the morning, in the privacy of his office. He had given Severus a box of star-shaped cookies, knowing Severus wouldn’t want some sappy hearts. He had gotten a box of Chocolate Frogs, like every year. And like every year, he was happy to get them.

It wasn’t so much the unending boasting of Lockhart that made Severus dislike him, although that was extremely annoying and he had been ready to silence him with a spell numerous times. What bothered him most was how much Lockhart swarmed around Andy, asking about his trips to Africa. Of course Andy didn’t mind talking about it, but Lockhart sometimes had very specific questions and Severus just didn’t trust that toothy smile.

“Let’s go back to those Tusk-Munchers you mentioned,” Lockhart said when he and Andy were alone one day.

“Why? They’re not that interesting.”

“You said very few people know about them.”

“Of course, they are nocturnal. There aren’t many people who saw them.”

“And all they do is suck on elephant tusks?”

“And rhinos.” Andy looked at Lockhart, who walked alongside him through the castle. “Those animals won’t let them latch on to their tusks during the day, so they wait for the night and then suck nutrients from the tusks that they use for themselves. They secrete an oily liquid that, when mixed with water, is actually a good substitute for milk, so the locals collect that. They are as harmless as a Flobberworm, in most cases.”

Lockhart seemed most interested now. “Most cases?” he repeated.

“Yes, well, there was this young man who had fallen. A very unlucky fall, he ended up with an open fracture, the bone sticking out his arm. A nearby Tusk-Muncher noticed and crawled to him. It lashed on to the bone and started sucking the marrow out of it. The young man screamed, but it was impossible to pull it off. A local wizard had to stun it and then it could be removed. Then he had to heal the man and he made him believe it had all been a dream.”

“Fascinating,” Lockhart muttered. “And–”

But before he could launch a follow-up question, Severus had joined them and with one glare sent Lockhart away.

* * *

Two more students got petrified, Hermione Granger being one of them. Hagrid was sent to Azkaban for being suspected of opening the Chamber of Secrets, and Dumbledore was removed from his position. The students in the castle lived in constant fear and the teachers felt hopeless as they had been unable to put a halt to this Heir of Slytherin.

One day McGonagall's voice echoed through the corridors. _“All students to return to their House dormitories at once. All teachers return to the staff room. Immediately, please.”_

When Andy heard it he went to the staff room immediately, as McGonagall had requested, joining Severus when he saw him walking ahead. “Do you know what this is about?”

“Considering recent events, it will be bad.”

They entered the room and looked at the gathered teachers. Some had puzzled looks on their faces, others looked scared. Andy and Severus looked at each other, mirroring each other’s worry.

Finally, McGonagall arrived too and she looked at the gathered teachers. “It has happened,” she told the silent staff room. “A student has been taken by the monster. Right into the Chamber itself.”

The professors reacted to the news with gasps and cries of disbelief and horror. Severus’s fingers dug in the back of a chair. “How can you be sure?” he asked, his voice soft and demanding.

“The Heir of Slytherin,” McGonagall’s voice trembled and her skin was paler than usual, “left another message. Right underneath the first one. `Her skeleton will lie in the Chamber forever’, is what it said…”

Professor Flitwick burst into tears; Andy walked over to console him.

“Who is it?” Madam Hooch whispered with a broken voice, her trembling hand grabbing a chair and she sank into it. “Which student?”

“Ginny Weasley.”

Everyone was silent as they let it sink in. Andy closed his eyes as he thought about Arthur and Molly, dear friends of his, and Charlie, one of his favourite Weasleys he had taught so far. They would be devastated.

“We shall have to send all the students home tomorrow,” McGonagall continued. “This is the end of Hogwarts. Dumbledore always said. . .”

The staffroom door banged open again and Lockhart burst it. “So sorry, dozed off, what have I missed?” He didn't seem to notice the other teachers glared at him.

Severus stepped in his direction. “Just the man,” he said, “The very man. A girl has been snatched by the monster, Lockhart. Taken into the Chamber of Secrets itself. Your moment has come at last.”

Lockhart blanched.

“That's right, Gilderoy,” Professor Sprout chipped in. “Weren't you saying just last night that you've known all along where the entrance to the Chamber of Secrets is?”

“I – well, I…”

Andy smirked; there was something really pleasing to see Lockhart react like that. And all the professors seemed to enjoy joining Severus.

“Yes, didn't you tell me you were sure you knew what was inside it?” Professor Flitwick added.

“D-did I? I don't recall…”

“I certainly remember you saying you were sorry you hadn't had a crack at the monster before Hagrid was arrested,” Severus mentioned, his voice as cold as ice. “Didn't you say that the whole affair had been bungled, and that you should have been given a free rein from the first?”

Lockhart stared around at his stony-faced colleagues. “I-I really never – you may have misunderstood…”

“We'll leave it to you, then, Gilderoy,” McGonagall decided. “Tonight will be an excellent time to do it. We'll make sure everyone's out of your way. You'll be able to tackle the monster all by yourself. A free rein at last.”

Lockhart gazed desperately around him, but nobody came to the rescue. His lips were trembling, and his usually toothy grin was nowhere to be seen. “V-very well,” he said. “I'll… I'll be in my office, getting… getting ready.” And he quickly left the room.

“Right,” McGonagall said, sending a final glare to the door before turning to the other teachers, “that's got him out from under our feet. The Heads of Houses should go and inform their students what has happened. Tell them the Hogwarts Express will take them home first thing tomorrow. Will the rest of you please make sure no students have been left outside their dormitories?”

One by one the teachers rose and left, Andy and Severus were the last to leave.

“I’ll go check on Lockhart,” Andy said. “For some reason he didn’t seem all that excited about his task.”

“I’ll head to Slytherin House. Be careful.”

Andy nodded and walked to Lockhart’s room, opening the door without knocking. “Lockhart?”

“Ah, Andy,” he said as he emerged from the backroom, carrying some clothes. “I’m glad you stepped by. There was one detail about those African Tusk-Munchers I missed for the book.”

“What book?”

Lockhart showed his signature toothy smile. “The one I will be publishing soon, about my encounter with those fascinating creatures. But tell me, did you discover how they reproduce?”

“I’m not telling you that,” Andy growled. “You don’t have the right to use my research for your –”

“You won’t even remember it,” Lockhart promised, taking his wand. “I’m actually very good at Memory Charms.”

Andy grabbed his wand too and wanted to disarm Lockhart, but Lockhart was quicker and with a simple Expelliarmus, Andy’s wand flew through the room and landed on the other side.

“I’ll make something up,” Lockhart said. “I can’t let you tell others about the book.” He pointed his wand at Andy, who backed away.

“Please, don’t,” Andy pleaded. “Don’t do that.”

“Obli–”

“Expelliarmus!” Severus shouted, disarming Lockhart as he stepped into the room. Both Lockhart and Andy turned and stared at him as if he was a ghost; neither had expected him to show up. Severus ignored Andy’s stare, keeping his eyes on Lockhart. “I knew you couldn’t be trusted; you had an unhealthy interest in Andy and his time in Africa. You should be preparing to sort out that monster.”

“You can’t expect me to –”

“I’m going to my House now, and when I return to your room, I don’t want to see you here. I will tell everyone what you were about to do if you are still cowering in this room.” Severus was certain not one teacher had expected Lockhart would really go after the monster, but having him hide in his room was good enough for everyone. It had been for him too, but now he didn’t want Lockhart to be safe here. Not after what he had almost done. He knew Andy considered every memory a valuable one and to remove them from someone was a cruel and unethical practice in his book, especially if it was for personal gain. “And if I find you here I will use the Torture Curse on you for wasting my time.”

“T-that is for-forbidden,” Lockhart stuttered.

Severus narrowed his eyes. “See if I care,” he said with a dangerous sound in his voice. “Come Andy, let’s give him some time to prepare so he can take out that monster, as he promised.”

Andy, who had picked up his wand, nodded and followed Severus outside. “I’m glad you didn’t go straight to your House,” he said as they walked alongside each other.

“I couldn’t shake the feeling that going to him was a bad idea.”

“Obviously.” He gave Severus a pat on the back. “Thanks for looking after me. I will do a quick check on the library and other common areas now, to make sure all students are really in their Houses.”

Severus nodded and the two parted ways.

After Harry had defeated the Basilisk, Dumbledore called together his teachers to explain what had happened. McGonagall already knew, but it was time to inform the rest.

“He used Memory Charms on people to sell their research and adventures?” Professor Sprout repeated. “That is terrible! Why haven’t you exposed him?”

“Because now he can’t remember he did that,” Dumbledore explained serenely. “He doesn’t remember anything. As unethical as what he did was, don’t you think it would be cruel to subject him to scorn and contempt of the wizarding community while he has no idea what he did to deserve that? The damage, unfortunately, is done. We can’t return their memories to them.”

Severus hit the table with his fist. “He tried to do that to Andy!”

Dumbledore turned his attention to Andy. “I’m glad he didn’t succeed. Since you kept a low profile on your visits to Africa, I didn’t think he would be interested in you. I did keep an eye on you, just in case, but unfortunately I couldn’t in the end. I apologise.”

Andy nodded once.

“As an almost-victim and our ethics teacher, I will listen to your recommendation regarding the matter.”

Again Andy nodded, but he didn’t reply instantly. “For me,” he began eventually, “wiping someone’s memory and taking away the experiences they had is unforgivable. Memories are valuable. But I also believe in an eye for an eye. Lockhart didn’t lose the memory of one event, he lost everything; all the joy and grief he had in his life, everyone he knew. He got what he deserved, and it won’t help his victims if we expose him, so I agree with Dumbledore. Gilderoy has been adequately punished; let him live the rest of his useless life in blissful ignorance.”

After the meeting Andy and Severus walked to Andy’s office. Andy was unusually quiet during the entire walk. Severus knew something was up, but he also knew that if Andy wanted to talk about it, he would.

Once they were in his office and the door was closed, Andy turned to Severus. “You know I don’t believe him.”

“Who?”

“Dumbledore. I bet he knew Lockhart would be interested in me; the few things I did publish about the magical creatures I encountered in Africa were well-received. I think Dumbledore used me as a bait, to see if he could catch Lockhart trying to do what he did to other wizards. If he could catch him in the act, he’d have proof. If Lockhart would succeed he’d have proof. Either way, Dumbledore would have been able to prove Lockhart’s wrongdoings. I will say that I believe Dumbledore when he said he kept an eye on me, but if Lockhart would have succeeded, I would have been collateral damage to him, nothing more.”

“That’s a bold statement to make,” Severus said.

“Dumbledore is a manipulative bastard and I see him perfectly capable of pulling a stunt like this.” Andy poked his finger in Severus’s chest. “He used you; what makes you think he won’t use others for his own schemes?”

“He didn’t use me,” Severus stated.

“He did. He didn’t need you to spy on Voldemort to use the Fidelius Charm, he could have taken your warning and protect the Potters because he cared about their safety. But no, he couldn’t pass up the opportunity to get a spy in Voldemort’s camp, so he used your willingness to do anything as long as Lily would be safe. That’s why I say he is a manipulative bastard and that’s why I suspect he knew very well Lockhart was interested in me.”

“It’s possible,” Severus admitted, his long fingers stroking Andy’s cheek. “I’m just glad he didn’t succeed.”


	6. Serious Black / Harry’s third year

Andy walked through the gloomy part of Cokeworth with rows of dilapidated brick houses that had no front gardens, and while it was impossible to see from here, probably no back gardens either. He wasn’t even sure how many people still lived here; the windows looked dark and empty. The house he went to was inhabited, but only during the summer, and then only when the occupant didn’t spend his time in a certain Muggle apartment.

When he reached the house at Spinner’s End, he knocked on the door. If he wanted to he could Apparate inside, but that wasn’t polite. When Severus opened the door, Andy immediately smiled; he couldn’t help it.

“You’re back,” Severus stated.

“Back from Africa,” Andy confirmed, entering the house as Severus stepped aside to let him in. “I’ve got a whole lot of writing left to do, but I’ve got all the data I wanted.”

“Have you heard?”

Andy looked back at Severus, who had closed the door and gestured to walk ahead, into the sitting room. “Heard what?”

“He escaped.”

“Who did?” Andy dropped his backpack next to the threadbare sofa and had only briefly glanced at the familiar books that covered Severus’s walls before turning his attention fully to his lover.

Severus pointed to a newspaper lying on a rickety table and sat down in the old armchair. His fingers tapped restlessly on the armrest as he waited for Andy to pick it up. Of course he hadn’t heard – he probably would have been back sooner if he had.

Andy picked up the newspaper and turned it over so he could see the date and headline. Immediately he saw the image of Sirius Black, with the headline that he had escaped. His jaw dropped and he quickly checked the date before turning to Severus. “He escaped Azkaban?!”

“Apparently so.” Severus’s face twisted as his fingers dug deeper into the armrest. “He was a bully and he tried to kill me back at Hogwarts,” he hissed, “and worst of all, he is responsible for Lily’s death! If I run into him, I’ll Crucio him before dragging him back to the Dementors for a Kiss.”

“Maybe avoid the Unforgivable Curse unless you want to use it as a shortcut to Azkaban so you can deliver Black to them.” Andy waited until Severus locked eyes with him. “Let’s focus on keeping Harry safe. I’m sure he’ll figure out Harry is at Hogwarts and when he does, he might very well try to finish his job. Remember, we agreed to honour Lily’s sacrifice and for that Harry must live. That is what she died for.”

“Don’t remind me!” Severus shouted, jumping up and kicking the already feeble table. “I want to make him pay for what he did!”

“Let justice do that. Focus on Harry for now. If you end up in Azkaban and something happens to Harry because you couldn’t protect him, how guilty would you feel?”

Severus stared at him. Suddenly, the energy seemed to drain from him. Andy quickly used his wand to make sure the armchair was directly under Severus so he could sink into it. “Again you are my voice of reason. Why do you even help me? It's about Lily, again.”

“Because I love you.” Andy showed a gentle smile. “I promised you I would stand by you and help you any way I can, and I will honour that promise.”

“Thank you.”

* * *

Before the school year began Dumbledore had organised a meeting with his teachers and one by one they entered the staffroom. For the first time Hagrid was amongst them too and he stood a bit awkwardly at the side. Andy joined him and they talked about the subject Hagrid would be teaching; they shared an interest in Magical Creatures and Dumbledore had discussed the appointment of the new professor with Hagrid and Andy before making his decision.

“Andy,” McGonagall said as he entered the room with Severus. “You look healthy.”

“Well, spending a month in Africa certainly brings more colour to the skin,” he replied.

“How was it there?”

“Great. I did some follow-up on the Tusk-Munchers.”

Flitwick blinked his eyes. “Why? Last year you didn’t sound overly enthusiastic about them. You thought they were just a little more interesting than Flobberworms.”

“Because of Gilderoy, actually,” Andy said. “You can say what you want about the guy, but he knew a profitable idea when he saw one. And he was actually a pretty good writer. His method was as unethical as his ego was large, but he knew what ideas would sell, and out of all the things I had told him about what I had seen in Africa, he was most interested in the Tusk-Munchers. So I decided to revisit that and publish something about them.”

“Have you?” Dumbledore asked as he strode into the staffroom.

“It’s with the publisher now. It should come out in a month.”

“I’ll be first in line,” Dumbledore promised. “So,” he looked at all the teachers over his half-moon spectacles, “first things first. You all heard Black escaped Azkaban and we have reason to believe he will try to kill Harry. Despite him being on the loose, I want this school year to be as normal and pleasant for the students as other years.”

“You mean like last year?” Andy asked. “Or the year before?”

“Well, let’s avoid having trolls in the bathroom or reopening the Chamber of Secrets this year as well,” Dumbledore replied with an amused look on his face. “But I have to admit, since Harry joined Hogwarts things have been… eventful.” He looked at the teachers. “Anyway, regarding Sirius Black, they want to station Dementors on the school grounds.”

Gasps sounded around the table; Hagrid’s hands trembled as he recalled his own time in Azkaban the previous year.

“Those awful creatures,” McGonagall said.

“I have already replied I will not tolerate them on the school grounds, and most definitely not inside the castle. But they will be around the school grounds, so I will warn the students. I want at least one teacher who knows the Patronus Charm outside when students are outside at all times.” After he saw the teachers who knew the charm nod, he moved on to the next item on the agenda. “As you already know, Hagrid will be our new Care of Magical Creatures professor this year. And for this year, I invited Remus Lupin as our Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher.”

“You want a werewolf to teach the students?” Severus spat.

“It won’t be dangerous if he takes his Wolfsbane potion, which you will make for him, Severus.

Severus scowled. “Why him?”

“There isn’t anyone who knows Black better than he does.”

“It’s because they were friends that I think it’s a bad idea,” Severus snarled.

“I have faith in Remus,” Dumbledore stated. “He was a bit hesitant and even politely declined the position at first, but when I promised him he would get his supply of potions from us, he agreed to come after all.” Dumbledore looked straight at Severus. “I expect you to make this potion for him.”

“I’ll start brewing right away,” Severus said, his voice dripping with contempt.

“Remus will arrive with the students on the Hogwarts Express,” Dumbledore said and he rose. “The first Dementors will arrive shortly and I will make sure they know where they can or cannot come.”

And with that, the meeting came to an end. Andy and Severus left the room together.

“I saw you nod when Dumbledore requested all teachers who knew the Patronus charm to look after the students. Can you do it now? The last time I tried to teach you– ”

“I managed a feeble wisp of a Patronus at best,” Andy interjected. “I can do an Incorporeal Patronus now, it’s a rather impressive disk of white light…”

Severus raised an eyebrow.

“It’s maybe a meter in diameter at best,” Andy sighed. “But it should do the trick when a Dementor comes too close.”

The year began normal enough, Fred and George Weasley had decided to take the elective class Ethics for their fifth year, solely because their elder brother Charlie had promised them they would enjoy it.

Draco got injured by Buckbeak, but that event was soon overshadowed by the fact Sirius Black had managed to break into Hogwarts. That night, all the students slept in the Great Hall as teachers and staff searched the castle. The prefects were told to keep guard and the Head Boy and Girl were left in charge.

Severus and Andy walked together, searching for Sirius Black. Andy almost couldn’t keep up with Severus’s feverish search, who seemed determined to catch him. After their round they went back to the Great Hall where they found Dumbledore. They briefed him on where they had searched and that Black wasn’t anywhere in the castle

“Very well,” Dumbledore said, “I didn’t really expect Black to linger.”

“Do you have any theories as to how he got in?” Severus asked, drawing a glance from Andy.

“Many, Severus, each of them as unlikely as the next.” 

Severus could barely contain his voice, but still managed an angry whisper. “You remember the conversations we had, just before the start of term?”

“I do, Severus,” Dumbledore said; the tone of his voice held a warning.

“I doubt he could have entered the school without inside help. I did express my concerns when you appointed–”

“I do not believe a single person inside this castle would have helped Black enter it,” Dumbledore interjected, his tone making it clear that the subject was closed. “I must go down to the Dementors,” he continued. “I said I would inform them when our search was complete.”

“Didn’t they want to help, sir?” Percy asked.

“Oh yes,” Dumbledore stated coldly. “But I’m afraid no Dementor will cross the threshold of this castle while I am Headmaster.” With that Dumbledore left the hall, walking quickly and quietly.

Severus watched Dumbledore leave with an expression of deep resentment on his face. Andy put a hand on his shoulder and leaned towards him. “We’ll do another round and I will keep a close eye on Remus, okay?” he whispered in his ear.

Severus nodded and together they left.

Harry, Ron and Hermione had overheard the exchange, but only Hermione had noticed Andy’s gesture, wondering why Professor Snape would allow anyone to touch him like that. She didn’t voice her thoughts to the boys, as the case of Sirius Black was more important.

It wasn’t the only time Black entered the castle: the second time, he got inside Gryffindor Tower. But again, they were unable to find Black afterwards. Severus became more agitated, trying to convince Dumbledore of Lupin’s untrustworthiness several times. However, Dumbledore didn’t want to hear anything about it.

At least there were other things happening to take their mind off things.

Buckbeak’s hearing came, and although Andy had written the department about his suggestion regarding the ethics of giving a death penalty to a sentient creature unable of human speech, therefor unable to defend itself, the court had ruled Buckbeak was dangerous.

When Hagrid told Andy, he was furious, blaming ‘Lucy’ Malfoy for buying the verdict. For the first time that year the roles were reversed and Severus tried to calm Andy.

Then the Quidditch match Gryffindor vs. Slytherin came, which of course both Severus and McGonagall attended. Andy never had much interest in the sport, but it was an important match and he sat through it.

One evening Severus and Andy were in the Severus’s office, where Severus begrudgingly filled a cup with the Wolfsbane potion. “I better not have to do this for the rest of my life,” he snarled. “Not only do I have to make this every month, now I have to bring him one because he forgot to come to me.”

“You know what? You take it to him and come back and we’ll lock ourselves in my bedroom.”

“That won’t solve anything. It won’t get me Black or get Lupin fired.”

“No, but it might make you feel better tonight. You had to do something you hate, so let’s try to end the day in a positive way.”

Severus nodded and they left the office, going in opposite direction. Andy went into his office and decided to fill two glasses with firewhisky, but Severus didn’t return. Time passed and Andy started pacing around his room. When it started to take too long, Andy decided to see if everything was okay with Severus and Lupin, worried that something may have happened between them. Maybe they had gotten into an argument. Maybe Severus hadn’t been in time with giving the potion. Once that thought settled in his mind, fear filled his heart and he ran the rest of the way to Lupin’s office.

But no-one was there.

Andy did notice something lying on Lupin’s desk and checked it. Some kind of map, magical by the looks of it, judging by the arrow with the name ‘Argus Filch’ on it, who he did see walking through the corridor when he looked over his shoulder. “Argus! Did you see either Professor Lupin or Professor Snape somewhere?”

“Haven’t seen them, Professor Bansing,” the caretaker replied. “Excuse me, some students made a mess and guess who has to clean it up again.” He continued to mutter about it as he walked away.

“Thanks Argus! Nice talking with you as always!” Andy looked around the empty office once more and stepped outside, closing the door behind him. He left Lupin’s map on his table. It was a curious thing, though; he had decided to ask about that first thing in the morning.

Walking through the castle he tried to determine where Severus or Lupin could have gone. Hogwarts was a big place, and it seemed disproportionally large when looking for someone. Double that size if you cared for the one you were looking for.

“Ah, Andy,” the voice of Dumbledore sounded behind him and he looked back. “Will you walk with me?”

“Where are you going?”

“Hospital Wing. Severus is there if you’re looking for him.”

The cold fingers of fear etched around his heart. “Is he–”

“Oh, he’s fine, don’t worry. But I do want to tell you I had the most interesting conversation with Sirius Black.”

“Black?”

“Severus caught him.”

“Good.”

“Yes, well, Black claims he talked James into switching Secret-Keepers, that they should choose Pettigrew instead, which they did. And that Pettigrew is the one who blasted the street with a spell, having his wand hidden behind his back, and that Pettigrew is still alive, that he is an unregistered Animagus and can take the form of a rat.”

Andy stopped dead in his tracks.

“A bit of haste, please,” Dumbledore said. “Things are happening rather fast this evening and I still need to have a word with Harry.”

“You don’t believe that, do you?” Andy asked as he quickly followed Dumbledore again.

“What I believe is of no consequence. The Dementors will soon be here to administer their Kiss.” He looked at Andy. “Still, the rat part got you thinking, didn’t it? That made you stop walking.”

“But the testimony of those Muggles…”

“I can only tell you what Black told me.” They reached the hospital wing. “Wait here, I will send Severus out.”

Andy did as the Headmaster had suggested and waited outside. It wasn’t long before the door opened and Minister Fudge appeared, but he seemed to be waiting for someone. Then finally Severus left the room too, and he looked _furious_.

“What is going on?” Andy asked.

“Black Confunded Potter and Granger,” Snape spat. “They believe he is innocent. He implanted some kind of fairytale about a rat and Pettigrew being alive in their heads. And now Dumbledore said he went to Black and listened to the same fairytale!”

Andy nodded and put a hand on Severus’s shoulder to steer him in a different direction than the Minister for Magic was going and create a little distance. “Yes, he gave me the summary.”

“Don’t tell me you believe it.”

“I think any convicted man is likely to lie in order to get out of their conviction, but maybe we could go ask him ourselves. Probe his mind a bit…”

Cornelius Fudge looked from one to the other as the two men stared at each other. With the faintest of nods, Severus agreed and invited the Minister to join them. The three of them went to the tower where Black was being kept, went to his room… and saw it was empty.

As Andy stared at the empty room, Severus let out a roar of fury and immediately turned around, marching back to the hospital wing without waiting for the others. Andy and Cornelius quickly followed him, the latter stuttering that there had to be a good explanation for the disappearance. Before reaching the hospital wing they saw Dumbledore walking in their direction.

“He is gone!” Severus growled. “Where is Potter?”

“Still in bed, I presume,” Dumbledore replied calmly.

“We’ll see about that!”

“He must have Disapparated, Severus,” the Minister said, trying to come up with a good reason why Black was gone. “We should have left somebody in the room with him. When this gets out–”

“He didn’t Disapparate!” Snape roared. “You can’t Apparate or Disapparate inside this castle. This has something to do with Potter!”

“Severus, be reasonable,” Dumbledore spoke, “Harry has been locked up…”

But Severus held his wand and used it to blast open the door. The four men strode into the ward, Andy in the back of the group and examined the other three. Of course the Minister for Magic was angry, but Severus was beside himself with rage, and that worried him. But most peculiar was that Dumbledore seemed to be amused by it all. Andy took a moment to observe the Headmaster, before he turned his attention to Severus.

“Out with it, Potter!” Severus stood next to his bed with surprising speed. “What did you do?!”

Harry just stared at them, there was no surprise there. Andy frowned at Harry and crossed his arms.

“Professor Snape!” Madam Pomfrey glared furiously at him. “Control yourself!”

“See here, Snape, be reasonable,” Fudge spoke quietly. “This door’s been locked, we just saw–”

“They helped him escape! I know it!” Severus bellowed as he pointed at Harry and Hermione, who did their best to act shocked and innocent.

“Calm down, man!” Fudge barked. “You’re talking nonsense!”

“You don’t know Potter! He did it! I know he did it!”

“That will do, Severus,” Dumbledore said quietly. “Think about what you are saying. This door has been locked since I left the ward ten minutes ago. Madam Pomfrey, have these students left their beds?”

“Of course not! would have heard them!”

“Well, there you have it, Severus,” Dumbledore stated calmly. “Unless you are suggesting that Harry and Hermione are able to be in two places at once, I’m afraid I don’t see any point in troubling them further.” 

Severus stood there, panting and seething, his fists trembling. “You know it as well as I do,” he hissed at Dumbledore, turning around so abruptly that his robes swished behind him, and he stormed out of the ward.

Andy frowned at Dumbledore, whose eyes were twinkling behind his glasses, and quickly followed Severus. He ran until he found Severus, holding on to the wall for support.

“We had Black… we had him, but he slipped away.”

“Severus…”

“It’s Potter.”

“I don’t question that. I’m certain Dumbledore also had a hand in it. I said it before and I will say it again: he is a manipulative bastard.” He gently took Severus’s hand after making sure no-one was watching them. “I know this was a rough year on your emotions and this last event really pushed you over the threshold of what you can take. But I need you to be the Occlumens I know you are. Take a deep breath and listen to me, because I can tell you a few things about a rat that I learned about this year that may make you think differently about Black’s fairytale.”

Severus nodded. “In my office.”

“I’ve got whisky ready in mine.”

“Fine, we’ll go there.”

They walked together in silence until reached Andy’s office, entering and closing the door behind them. Andy sat down behind his desk, pulling one of the glasses closer to him. He waited until Severus was seated to begin. “Ron Weasley came to my office in the beginning of the year, during counselling hours, wanting to know if I also did counselling for stressed-out rats, since I’m also a Magizoologist.”

“Pathetic.”

“I told him I normally don’t, but I’d have a look at the rat anyway. I examined and asked him some questions about it. He said his rat had become stressed around the same time the news of Black’s escape had reached the news.”

“Coincidence.”

Andy smiled as he took a sip of the whisky. “The coincidences will stack up. Listen to this. The rat has been in the Weasley family for around twelve years. What else happened twelve years ago?”

“Black betrayed the Potters and killed Pettigrew.” There was a hint of impatience in Severus’s eyes. “Don’t tell me that’s all you got.”

“Ron explained the rat had been in his brother Percy’s possession first. When Percy got him twelve years ago, it already looked like an adult rat. It hasn’t changed in all those years. So the rat is likely older than twelve years, which is exceptionally old for a common rat.”

Severus sipped from his whisky as he looked at Andy, but he didn’t speak. His expression had changed from the earlier impatience to a more thoughtful look.

“I dutifully examined the rat, being awesome at it of course.”

“Of course.”

“And in my keen observation I noticed it was missing a toe from its front paw. I dismissed it, thinking it had lost it in a fight somewhere, it is a rat after all. But now I have to think about the one piece they found of Pettigrew.”

“A finger…”

“And the last thing, during my Ethics class this year we discussed Black. Fred, or George –I don’t know I can’t tell them apart– said that the news had been so shocking even Ron’s pet rat froze when he heard it. At the time, I thought he was exaggerating.”

Severus sipped from the glass as a deep frown creased his forehead.

“Now, what reason could a non-sentient rat have to be afraid of Black’s escape, taking into account one of the twins had seen him react and had been stressed out ever since?” When Severus didn’t reply, Andy leaned back in his chair. “As a former Death Eater, did you know either Black or Pettigrew was secretly working for Voldemort?”

“If either of them were, they were in different cells.”

“How do you like the coincidences?”

Severus scowled, his fingers thoughtfully stroking the glass. “I don’t. They imply there could be a grain of truth to Black’s fairytale. Do you think Dumbledore knows about the rat?”

“Dumbledore said Black told him Pettigrew is an unregistered Animagus who can take the form of a rat. I think he used Legilimency when he questioned Black, I don’t think he’d be convinced of the truth otherwise. I strongly suspect he used Legilimency on me too when I applied for this job.”

“I taught you Occlumency.”

Andy shrugged, but it was soon followed by a nod. “I kept portions of my mind safe, I didn’t want him learning any secrets the African wizards taught me, but I also didn’t want him to know I know Occlumency thanks to you, so I didn’t try to keep my mind closed.” He waved with his hand to dismiss it; it wasn’t relevant for the conversation at hand. “But let’s focus on Black again. He was a bully, and he led you to a situation that could have been your death; and in both versions of the story he is responsible for Lily’s death, although in one version not directly, because he isn’t the one who betrayed them to Voldemort. That may be Pettigrew after all, and I would like to be certain about that.”

Severus gave a single nod and finished his drink.

The next morning Severus ‘accidentally’ let slip that Lupin was a werewolf to the Slytherins. Andy only sighed when he found out, but he couldn’t really blame him either. Later that day, they went to Dumbledore to have a long talk with him. Dumbledore never admitted helping anyone escape, but he did say he believed the testimonies of Black, Lupin and the three students, without revealing why. And that they should be careful, because now Pettigrew only had one place to go: his old master.


	7. Voldy’s return / Harry’s fourth year

The Quidditch World Cup was upon them, but neither Andy nor Severus cared much about it. Severus saw enough Quidditch in Hogwarts and Andy didn’t even bother showing up for those matches most of the time.

They were lying in Andy’s king-size bed in his Muggle apartment, a blanket only partly covering their naked skin. Two letters were laying on the nightstand; they had been informed that the teachers had to be at Hogwarts a few days early because of the Triwizard Tournament that would be held.

Very early in the morning, a frantic tapping on the window woke them and Andy opened it to let in an owl. “It’s from Arthur,” he said, taking the letter and offering the owl a treat. He left the window open so the owl could leave when it wanted and opened the letter. As he read through it, his face changed from surprise to disgust, then back to surprise.

“What is it?”

“Well Severus, it looked like you missed a party with your old friends.” He handed him the letter. “Apparently, some Death Eaters felt elated after the Cup and they decided to wreak a little havoc. And someone conjured the Dark Mark into the sky, but they aren’t sure who.”

Severus scowled as he read through the letter.

* * *

The Triwizard Tournament was much more interesting than the Quidditch World Cup, according to Andy. And he wasn’t alone, everyone in Hogwarts was excited when it was announced. Dumbledore explained how it would work and caused an uproar when he informed the students about the age limit, something Andy couldn’t blame them for. When the twins tried to cross the Age Line and failed, he congratulated them on the attempt, which they called the highest praise from their favourite teacher.

The moment came the Cup would choose the champions. The Tournament, done with three champions from three schools who had to complete three tasks, suddenly had a fourth champion. And of course it was Harry. Andy decided to let Dumbledore break his head over the hows and whys; he would sit back and enjoy the tasks as much as he could, rooting for the Hufflepuff Champion of course.

During the Tournament, Hermione was also trying to get people to join her Society for the Promotion of Elfish Welfare, or S.P.E.W. Andy got a badge and wore it, much to her delight. He too wasn’t happy about the whole concept of house-elves, especially since there were plenty of people taking advantage of it. At least Dumbledore was respectful about house-elves, even offering Dobby a decent pay, which the house-elf didn’t even want to accept as it was “too much”.

One thing Andy was happy about was Charlie Weasley; he was one of Andy’s favourite students. They had both entered the same field: although Charlie had specialised as a Dragonologist, Andy still called himself a Magizoologist and had never chosen a specific creature as his focus, but his current interest was on magical creatures found in Africa. He felt the magical creatures here had been thoroughly investigated and people could use more knowledge about the more exotic creatures living far away. They talked about his publications, Charlie mentioned he had read them all, which Andy thanked him for. He spent quite some time talking with Charlie, often accompanied by Hagrid too, who was fascinated by dragons.

One thing Andy wasn’t happy about was Alastor Moody, who seemed to think turning students into ferrets or torturing spiders to teach a class were good ideas. But there wasn’t much he could do about that, except for telling him he did not approve and devote an Ethics class to it. At least McGonagall had given him a piece of her mind when it came to changing students in ferrets as punishment. Andy had snickered when he watched that happened. He too had been on the receiving end of such a lecture and it gave him a deep satisfaction to see her anger directed at Moody.

The Yule ball came and even though Andy would have loved nothing more than to spend it with Severus, he still didn’t want anyone to know about them. So instead, he danced with Professors McGonagall and Sprout. He still enjoyed himself, but just like it had been during his own student life at Hogwarts, parties or dances were always spent with a second-best option.

At least he had a good time. When he wasn’t dancing, he chatted with fellow teachers or students. Halfway through he found himself surrounded by Fred, George, and some of their friends. He was talking about some of his own dates when he was still a student.

“And in my fifth year I was dating Ramona, a beautiful but slightly bashful Ravenclaw. There was a party at Hogsmeade and I had invited her as my date, but the day before she fell ill. That was when Monica came into my life; she was from Slytherin and had dazzling good looks. Any guy wanted to be seen with her, but she had her eyes on me. To this day I suspect she hexed poor Ramona.”

“Did you go with Monica?” George asked.

“Well, I didn’t want to go alone to that party, and Monica was the kind of girl where it’s really hard to say no to. Ramona was a nice girl, pretty and smart, but dating her didn’t give the sparks I had hoped for. I didn’t go behind her back though.” He waved his finger at the gathered students. “Never go behind the back of the person you’re dating. Be honest to them. I talked to Ramona about taking Monica to the party and she was hurt but gave her blessing and we remained friends. So, I went to the party with Monica. We had a great date. A wild night.”

The older students all grinned lewdly.

“I dumped her after a few days. I was nothing but a prize on her arm and I didn’t want to be that. She did try to curse me after that, but all her attempts failed. One day, after I had a date with another girl, she was so furious that she tried to cast a spell that would make me be attracted only to men. She told all her friends she would do it and I caught wind of it. So I picked a guy who was up for that; we pretended to date for a while, even kissed publicly,” the students roared with laughter, “and then I moved in for my revenge. She thought she had gotten her revenge and moved on to the second most handsome guy of the school.”

“Who was the first?” Fred asked.

“Me, of course! Be careful or I’ll start taking points away from Gryffindor.” After the twins quickly promised they would never make that mistake again, Andy continued his story. “I pretended to seduce her boyfriend, acting like I was deeply in love with him. It annoyed her very much. After messing with her for a while, by flirting with her boyfriend and sending him love letters, I told her that her curse had failed, that you really can’t change someone’s sexuality with the simple curse she had tried, and that it really was a mean thing to try in the first place. And she was shrieking ‘I saw you snogging a boy!’. I asked her if she thought that was my first guy, which made he was furious again. Luckily, Professor Slughorn heard what had happened and reprimanded her for trying to manipulate others through magic. She continued to date the second handsomest guy in school, actually ended up marrying the unfortunate soul, and I started dating girls again.”

“Was there anyone that stuck?” Fred asked.

“There was one, but unfortunately unattainable for me, so I didn’t pursue them. I mean, there were plenty of beautiful people at Hogwarts, so I had plenty of dates to choose from when I was lonely.”

“You were a bit of a player, weren’t you?” George commented with a grin.

“You could say that,” Andy admitted. “But I left those years behind me. I only really dated in my fifth and sixth year; after that I just didn’t see the appeal anymore. It’s a lifestyle that brings short-term pleasure but doesn’t bring it long-term. So, take that life lesson, go back to your dates and have some fun during this ball.”

* * *

The second task was approaching, but Andy and Severus didn’t think about that as they lay together in Severus’s bed. Andy let his fingers glide over his lover’s arm and kissed his shoulder. “Your Mark is getting darker.”

“I noticed,” Severus said between kisses.

“You probably should tell Dumbledore.”

“Already have.”

“Good.” Andy pulled him in closer. “Then we don’t have to stop.”

Their lips brushed against each other, again and again. The small, loving kisses turned into passionate ones and Andy’s hand travelled down, trailing the muscles on Severus’s back, following his spine, gliding over his hip and going between his legs. Severus grunted against his lips, but he too moved his hand between Andy’s legs and drew out a similar sound. Severus’s fingers brushed through Andy’s hair and gently intertwined with it as Andy lay his hand on Severus’s arse. They continued to caress each other’s erections and Severus managed to make Andy come first, but he wasn’t far behind. Andy stayed in bed with him and they slept through the night together.

The next morning, Andy left Severus’s room before breakfast. Severus had an early class to teach that day and while Andy would have loved to have a lie-in, he decided he could actually do some work instead.

He noticed Hermione, who absentmindedly greeted him as she walked further, but she stopped and turned.

“Professor Bansing,” she began.

“Yes?”

“Did you…” she glanced around and stepped a bit closer. “Did you spend the night here?”

“Why do you say that?”

“Well, I…”

The door opened again and Severus stepped outside, his eyes moving from Andy to Hermione and settling on her. “Is there something wrong, Miss Granger?” he asked.

“N-no professor.”

“She was on her way to my office,” Andy interjected. “This way, Miss Granger.” He led her to his office and invited her to step inside.

Hermione looked around; it was her first time in the office of professor Bansing. There were a few masks hanging on the wall and a bookcase was filled with books. A Muggle calendar, a portrait of a wizard family she didn’t know, a lunar calendar, posters with specifics of certain magical creatures all adorned the walls.

“So,” Andy said as he sat down on the edge of his desk. “Why did you say what you said?”

“Is it true then?”

“I will only admit I was there. What led you to that conclusion?”

Hermione looked at Andy, he actually had a friendly look in his eyes when he asked the question, he wasn’t angry or upset, he just seemed ready for a debate. “Well, first off, everyone knows you are not a morning person, professor Bansing.”

“Is that so?” Andy asked, an amused smile on his face.

“Well, yes, the earliest you are available for counselling is 10 a.m., your own classes and lectures are always in the afternoon, you rarely eat breakfast in the Great Hall with the rest of the staff. I find it hard to believe you would get up early in the morning just to talk with Professor Snape.” Hermione waited to see how the professor would respond, but he just gestured she had to go on. “Then I remembered something I saw last year. In the Great Hall, when we all had to sleep there. I didn’t think anything of it back then, but I clearly remember you putting a hand on Professor Snape’s shoulder and whisper something to him. I recall finding it odd professor Snape would allow anyone to touch him in such a familiar way. And thinking about it, Professor Snape tolerates much more from you than he would from anyone. And I’ve seen you two casually together on more than one occasion. Lastly, Fred and George told us about Monica, you don’t care what gender your partner has.”

“I only heard about it before, but you really are a smart witch.” Andy got up from the desk and walked to one of the masks but didn’t really look at it. “Let me guess, the Sorting Hat considered Ravenclaw for you too.”

“It… did.”

“It did for me too. And for Professor McGonagall.” He rubbed his face as he tried to decide what to do with this student. “Look,” he said as he turned to face her. “I would appreciate it if you would keep this… theory to yourself. It’s a bit of a delicate situation and we can’t have students gossiping about it.”

“But-”

“Please, don’t tell anyone. Least of all your friends who hate Severus.”

Hermione nodded. “Okay. I will keep this between us, professor.”

“Thank you.”

The day of the second task arrived and it didn’t take Severus long to figure out why some Gillyweed had gone missing from his personal stock when he saw how Harry tackled the assignment.

“Potter took it,” he hissed.

“You’d think he could just ask,” Andy commented.

“I will confront him about it during my next Potions class.”

Severus did exactly as he said he would: during the next Potions class with Harry he told him he knew all about the Gillyweed. But Igor Karkaroff came into his class, desperate to talk. Severus didn’t want to, but Karkaroff wouldn’t let go and almost shoved his Mark into Severus’s face after the class was over. It didn’t come as a surprise Karkaroff was worried about the Mark, Severus didn’t like the implications of the darkening symbol either, but that didn’t mean he wanted to talk about it with other former Death Eaters, especially when an Auror was teaching at Hogwarts. To make matters worse, Potter had overheard the conversation.

“I’m certain of it,” Severus said to Andy when they had a moment to themselves. “He knows something is up between Karkaroff and me.”

“Don’t worry about Potter. The worst that can happen is that he discovers what Dumbledore and most teachers already know. What was so special about the Dark Mark that Igor wanted to show you so badly?”

“Nothing,” Severus spat. “That it’s getting darker. We already know that. The Dark Lord is gaining strength, and since Karkaroff betrayed the Death Eaters he has reason to fear his return.”  
  


* * *

Finally the day of the final Triwizard Tournament Task arrived: a maze with the prize in the centre. Andy sat with Severus, Dumbledore, and the other teachers when the rules were explained; he cheered for Cedric when it was his time to enter the maze. While he had to admit Harry had done remarkably well, Andy had found his favourite champion in his fellow Hufflepuff.

After a while though, he began losing his enthusiasm. He crossed his arms and stretched his long legs as he looked at the green wall of the maze. “This is only slightly more exciting than watching paint dry,” he grumbled. “Whose bright idea was it to let it all happen behind a wall so we can’t see a damn thing?”

Dumbledore laughed and even Severus smiled, but suddenly Severus clutched his forearm, his face contorting as the Dark Mark burned.

“What’s wrong?” Andy asked.

“I’m being summoned…”

Andy looked from Severus to Dumbledore, who mirrored his own worry at the implications of that statement. “After this tournament is over,” Dumbledore said with a soft voice so no-one else would hear him, “we need to talk, Severus.”

Severus nodded once and with that the conversation came to an end.

When Harry emerged from the maze the stadium erupted in cheers, but Dumbledore noticed almost instantly that something was wrong. He rushed down to Harry, who clutched Cedric as if his life depended on it. The first whispers started coming up: “Diggory is dead”. The stadium that had been filled with cheers was now filled with screams, hysteric cries, and sobbing.

“I’m going down,” Andy said, followed quickly by McGonagall and Severus. The three Professors soon joined Dumbledore, who tried to comfort Mr Diggory. “Albus,” Andy said after glancing around, “where is Harry?”

Dumbledore looked up and then swirled around, but Harry was gone. “I told him to stay…”

“I’ll find him.” Andy held his wand and swung it. “Expecto Patronum!” A corporeal Patronus in the shape of a Malachite Kingfisher flew out. Andy stared off into the distance as his Patronus circled up over the stadium.

“You are controlling it,” Dumbledore said.

“Looking through its eyes,” Andy muttered, still staring in the distance. “There. Alastor is taking him into the castle.”

“Alastor?” Dumbledore repeated.

Andy sighed and blinked a few times as the Patronus disappeared. “Right. I’ll take care of things here if you want to go after Potter.”

Dumbledore nodded and quickly went to the castle, followed by McGonagall and Severus. Cornelius Fudge was with Mr and Mrs Diggory, so Andy turned to the students. With his wand he amplified his voice and he looked at all the people there.

“I know everyone is confused as to what is going on, I know people are in pain. Our Headmaster will address it when he can. For now, I need everyone to go back to their Houses now! Heads and prefects, please bring your students back immediately. Professor Burbage will join Gryffindor until Professor McGonagall is available again. Professor Vector will join Slytherin until Professor Snape is available again.” The Professors of Muggle Studies and Arithmancy nodded and left to gather their appointed students. The Heads of Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff were already gathering their students to bring them to the castle, as Andy had requested. “Headmasters from Durmstrang and Beauxbatons,” Andy continued, “please return your students to your lodgins. The other Headmasters also did as requested, as they understood the gravity of the situation. “All other teachers, stay with me,” Andy concluded, watching how all students were led off the field. Now that was taken care of, he turned his attention to the body of Cedric Diggory, who was being cradled by his parents. “Sir, madam, do you agree we move him to the castle?”

“My boy, my boy…” Mr Diggory cried.

Andy crouched down next to him and took his shoulder. “Please, sir, we can’t leave him in the grass. Allow us to take him to the castle.”

Mr Diggory looked at him and nodded. “Yes, please, let’s… let’s do that.”

Andy nodded and rose again. “Madam Pomfrey, if you will,” he said to the nurse who had joined them.

“I will take good care of him,” she promised, conjuring up a stretcher.

“Once the Hufflepuffs are in their House, get Professor Sprout to Mr and Mr Diggory, Cedric was her student.”

Madam Pomfrey nodded and brought Cedric and his parents to the castle.

The remaining teachers had gathered around Andy. First he turned to Bathsheda Babbling, the professor of Study of Ancient Runes. “If Professor Sprout will join the Diggorys, we need another teacher with the students. Will you?”

“Of course, I’ll go straight to Hufflepuff.” Bathsheda quickly left.

“The rest of you,” he said facing the remaining staff, “We’re going to do a quick check of this field. Something happened and we need to make sure nothing else will. We will go back to the castle after we make sure this area is safe.”

Madam Hooch discovered that the Triwizard Cup, still lying discarded in the grass, was in fact a Portkey, but the other area was abandoned. There were signs that people had been there, but no indication of who they were or where they had gone to. She returned to the others, informing them about what she had seen.

When it was clear no other dangers lurked and all students had gone inside, Andy decided they had done what they could and sent everyone back to the castle, except Hagrid who offered to do a full check of the school grounds. Walking back, Andy decided to go to his own office; if Dumbledore needed him, he’d send for him. Once he was there, he picked a book to read and sat down behind his desk.

It was uncertain how long he had been reading when Severus entered, looking paler than usual. Andy immediately put the book down and rose from the chair. “What happened?”

“The Dark Lord has returned, Potter saw it. He even could name several Death Eaters who were there.”

Andy stared at him; he had feared that was the reason why Severus’s Dark Mark burned, but to actually hear those words…

“Fudge doesn’t believe the Dark Lord has returned, even after shoving my Mark in his face and telling him I felt the burn of his summons.”

“That figures,” Andy sighed.

“He completely ignored Dumbledore’s recommendations to remove the Dementors from Azkaban and to ally ourselves with the giants before the Dark Lord does.”

“Fool.”

“Black was there…”

Andy started walking around the desk, keeping his eyes on Severus.

“He was disguised as a dog. Dumbledore made us shake hands, because we’re on the same side.”

“That must have hurt.” Andy stood next to Severus and gently held his shoulder. “That doesn’t explain why you look so pale.”

“Dumbledore wants me to go back to the Dark Lord, do what I did before…” Severus sank in the empty chair.

It was silent for a moment as Andy searched for words. “When–” he croaked and he quickly cleared his throat. “When will you leave?”

“Right now. I will explain to the Dark Lord I couldn’t Disapparate from Hogwarts and leaving immediately would have been suspicious.”

“Won’t you be punished for being late?”

“Of course.”

“I don’t like this, Severus.”

Severus nodded, rubbing his trembling hands. “I can offer to spy for him on Hogwarts, while in reality I’m spying on him.”

“I didn’t like it when you were a double-agent before. I don’t like it now. You’re risking so much.”

Severus nodded again. “To keep Lily’s son safe…” he began and he watched Andy nod reluctantly. He decided to change the subject. “I didn’t know you could make a corporeal Patronus.”

“I managed to do that during my last visit to Africa. I came across a Lethifold and I had to focus really hard on you, but I did it.”

Severus narrowed his eyes. “You never told me.”

“Well, now you know.”

A knock sounded on the door and it opened. Dumbledore strode into the office. “I’m on my way to the Diggorys, but I wanted to see how things were here.” It seemed he wasn’t surprised at all that Severus was there. “You took care of things outside?”

“All students are in their Houses and a teacher is with them. The tournament site is safe. The cup was a Portkey, but Madam Hooch reported nothing special on the other side. Hagrid is doing a round over the entire school ground; he’ll report when he is done.”

“Excellent. Andy, Harry saw Voldemort rise; there were Death Eaters there.”

“I would love to hear the full story, but I already got a summary. He’s back and Fudge doesn’t believe it.”

“Do you?”

Andy nodded.

“Good. I will be in contact with Arthur Weasley about it, too. We could use your help.”

“I will stand between Death Eaters and Muggles or Muggle-Borns just like last time. I still oppose the views of pure-blood supremacy and I’m against the use of Dark Arts against innocent people. That hasn’t changed.”

Dumbledore accepted the words with a nod and announced he would be with the Diggorys now. It wasn’t until the door was closed again that Severus turned to Andy.

“You have no interest in being one of Dumbledore’s soldiers,” he stated.

“I never said I would be. My stance in this matter will be the same as last time, I will do what is needed, but I won’t affiliate myself with any group. The only difference is that now the health and well-being of Hogwarts students is added to my list.”

The evening of the Leaving Feast came, the Great Hall decorated with black drapes in honour of Cedric Diggory. Dumbledore held his speech, toasting to Cedric first and honouring his memory, telling exactly how he had died and mentioning how the Ministry of Magic did not approve of him telling them about it. Then he toasted to Harry for his display of bravery facing Voldemort and bringing Cedric back.

“And as a final note,” Dumbledore said after his speech, “I understand the return of Voldemort is a terrifying thought. The Heads of your Houses will be available throughout the evening to talk about it, but Professor Bansing has also offered counselling for those who feel the need for it. They are welcome in his office this evening or tomorrow morning before the transportation to the train arrives. The only thing that is left to say is that despite the loss of Cedric, despite the threat of Voldemort, you will enjoy this last meal together.”

With that, Dumbledore sat down again and the Feast began.

The next day Severus and Andy stood together, watching the students leave. He had talked with several of them, some trying to come to terms with it, others still in a state of disbelief and denial.

“What will you be doing this summer?” Severus asked.

“I will meet that Muggle Benjamin again, see if I can learn more about the paranormal. I’m going to focus on auras.”

“Be careful that you won’t start losing respect as a researcher.”

“This shouldn’t have any effect on my work as a Magizoologist, it’s a completely different field. And honestly, I think there are worse things to worry about than the opinions of others. I don’t care what people say about me and neither should you.” He didn’t have to ask what Severus would be doing: his life as a double agent had already begun and he would be spending a lot of time with Voldemort and his band of cronies. “Be careful, I don’t want to lose you.”

Severus put his hand on Andy’s shoulder. “You won’t,” he promised. After giving him a kiss, he turned around and left.


	8. Teaching Ethics / Harry’s fifth year

The next school year had started and Severus still hadn’t attained the Defence Against the Dark Arts position. The questionable honour had befallen on Dolores Umbridge, who held an amazingly boring speech at the beginning of the year. Andy yawned behind a hand, not really trying to hide it. When she was finally done he gave an overly enthusiastic applause, which she took as appreciation for her speech, but he was just glad it was over. He noticed the Weasley twins cheering with the same fake enthusiasm as him and he grinned. Teachers weren’t supposed to have their favourites, but everyone did, and the twins were his.

Dinner was finally served, much to Andy’s relief. He heard Umbridge talk about doing a ‘real subject’ that would actually teach the children something and he caught her glancing at him. “I’m not entirely sure,” he said, leaning to Severus, “but I don’t think Dolores thinks highly of my class.”

“You mean the elective very few people end up taking because it doesn’t have much to do about teaching about magic?” Severus asked sarcastically.

“You don’t seem too enthusiastic about it either.”

“It allows you to teach here and it’s not Divination. I’m a huge fan of Ethics. Just don’t make me take it.” Severus eyed the students in the Great Hall. “How many students have signed up for it this year?”

“I haven’t got the slightest idea!” Andy replied with a misplaced enthusiasm.

“How can you not know?”

“I haven’t checked the list. I always do that during the first class.”

Severus rubbed his face; it didn’t sound like Andy had prepared his first class at all. But then again, he couldn’t recall any time Andy had prepared anything for his Ethics class – he seemed to completely wing it. But if Dumbledore was fine with his method, he wouldn’t complain.

It was time for the first Ethics class, which was only taught once a week and it depended on the number of students enrolled how many groups he would have to teach that day. While he hadn’t checked the list of students, he did know the group was small enough to all fit in one class, which meant he would have an easy year this year.

He wondered, not for the first time, why Dumbledore had agreed to let him live at Hogwarts for just the few hours of teaching a week that he did, but he was glad it was possible.

When he entered his class he recognised a few faces: several Hufflepuffs, a few Ravenclaws and some Gryffindors. It was no surprise to see no-one from Slytherin; that House usually didn’t take this class. “Well, look at that. The Gryffindor trio,” he said as he looked at Harry, Ron and Hermione.

“Fred and George said we had to take this class,” Harry said.

“Because of my sublime teaching skills?”

“Well…” Harry began, not certain if he should tell.

“Out with it. In this class we aren’t afraid to speak our mind or the truth, but I haven’t covered the rules yet so you are excused.”

“Well, they said it was the funniest and easiest class they ever took.”

Andy laughed, much to the surprise of the students, and sat down at the edge of his desk. He crossed his arms as he examined the faces of his students. “Praise from my favourite students. Anyway, let’s begin. First, I will cover the rules of my class, then I will check the list of students and do a simple roll call. It will be the only one I do for the entire year. Any questions so far?” he waited for any questions but none came, “I am amazing at my job. Okay!” He clapped his hands. “The Rules! The first would be: if I explain something I expect you to be silent, for two reasons.” He held up one finger. “I like the sound of my own voice.” He added a second finger. “And if you act like what I say is not important...” he put a hand on his chest, “...you will hurt my ego and that is a dangerous condition. So, at least pretend that what I say is interesting and raise your hand before you speak.”

Again he paused to see if anyone had any questions or comments, but that wasn’t the case. “Rule two: if I say something that is funny you may laugh, even without raising your hand first, but we don't laugh at each other and we treat each other with respect. Everyone is entitled to an opinion and everyone should feel free to voice that opinion.” He got up from his sitting position and paced around in the front of the class. “We will create a safe place where we can discuss delicate subjects and speak freely, unless I'm explaining something, then rule one applies. Questions?”

Hermione raised her hand.

“Yes?”

“How will this be graded?”

“At the end of the year you will be presented with scenarios and discuss the ethics or lack thereof. This class won’t require any fact-learning, but critical thinking.”

“Can you even fail this class?” Ron asked.

“If you are particularly malicious in your answers, then I may have to conclude that you may have failed to grasp the meaning of ethical conduct. However, in all the years I have taught this class I’ve never had to fail anyone.” Sitting down on his desk again, Andy looked at the students. “The last housekeeping item I have is the roll call. I will go over the list only once, just today. I won’t check for any absences after this, but that doesn’t mean I won’t notice. If you fail to show up for my class without good reason, I will have to fail you. Our discussions here are the core of the class. However, if you can provide an essay about why it would be ethical to let you pass without doing any hard work in the class while other students done the work, I will let you pass no matter how many classes you missed or even failed the test.” He put his hands behind him, leaning back “I give this challenge to everyone, every year. If you can provide an essay that can convince me it is the right thing to do, I will let you pass, because honestly, I don't think you need this class if you can pull that off.”

Hermione raised her hand. “Professor, is that ethical?”

“I don’t know,” Andy replied with a grin. “You tell me. I will tell you this: so far, only two people managed to present me with an essay that was convincing enough, but I encourage everyone to try. Questions?” Some students shook their head, others remained silent. So he went over the list of students once, calling their names and watching hands rise. He recalled when the twins had been in his class: they both raised their hands at both names. How he missed having them in his class – it had been fun.

“Right,” Andy said after the roll call, “we will be talking a lot about right and wrong, good and evil. And, my favourite, all the shades of grey in-between. For instance: who can name an ethical use for the Killing Curse?”

“There is no such thing,” Harry immediately said. “Killing is never ethical. And there is no defence against it either.”

“And what about someone in agonizing pain without hope of recovery? Wouldn’t a small Avada Kedavra be more humane than letting them suffer?”

The class was silent as they let the words sink in.

“No-one has to agree with me. I’m not even saying it’s the right answer. But that is the kind of thing we will do here, we will look at something from different angles, some more uncomfortable than the others, and see if we can determine what is right and what is wrong together, or even come to the conclusion that there is no right or wrong.”

The ethics class soon became a favourite of the students taking it, as Andy was always able to bring interesting questions to the group which they could discuss freely.

Umbridge became the first High Inquisitor of Hogwarts and started harassing the teachers. Andy found himself being evaluated by her: one day she sat in the back of the class when the students entered.

“Take a seat,” Andy said. “As you see, our High Inquisitor honours us with a visit today. Which brings me to the first scenario. Let’s say there is a teacher who is, although highly unlikely, not very fond of Madam High Inquisitor. And the High Inquisitor likewise doesn’t like this teacher. Would it be ethical of the High Inquisitor to fire the teacher based on how she feels about him?”

“No sir,” Hermione said immediately. “That would be highly unethical.”

“Very good. But let’s say, in this hypothetical situation, this teacher had called her a… let’s say, an old cow first. Would it still be unethical if he got fired?”

“No,” Hermione said. “Then it would be his own fault.”

“But what do you suppose his friends will say when he says he was fired because the High Inquisitor just didn’t like him?”

Another student now took the word. “They would say it’s unethical, but the teacher would be the unethical one, because he is lying.”

“Very good. And what very important lesson was hidden in these hypothetical questions?”

It was silent for a moment. “That our view of ethics depends on the information we get?” Harry tried.

“Very good, Harry. We will always form opinions about what we hear, but if we only heard half the story, we can’t fully judge it. It’s always important to listen to both parties before jumping to conclusions, even if you dislike one of the parties.”

“Hem hem,” Umbridge interrupted. “I know this isn’t my field of expertise–”

“Excuse me?” Andy said. “I didn’t quite get that last bit.”

“It’s not my field of expertise.”

“Lucky it is mine, then. Go on.”

“Surely there is no place for right and wrong when the truth is involved? Those who oppose the truth are by definition on the wrong side of justice. Maybe your class should focus on the truth instead of being vague.”

“And whose truth do you suppose I should teach?”

Umbridge blinked. “Excuse me?”

“Truth, my dear Dolores, is in the eye of the beholder. What someone believes to be true doesn’t have to be true. No-one will argue with you that the grass is green and the sky is blue; we’ve all seen the evidence. But is the sky less of a sky when a colour-blind person will say ‘it’s a shade of purple to me’. Despite our perception, that person isn’t lying. They really do see purple.”

“But they can’t argue with thousands of people who saw the sky for what it really is: blue.”

“You’d be amazed how that works. Some saw with their own eyes Voldemort return, yet others refuse to believe that just because they haven’t seen it for themselves.”

Umbridge smiled at him as if he were a four-year-old child. “Those people who think he is back are a minority, just like colour-blind people.”

“That doesn’t make them wrong though.”

“I have another ethical question,” Umbridge said, “to test to see if you really are fit to teach this subject.” With a gesture of his hand Andy invited her to go on. “Say two teachers are in a relationship which they hide from the students. One of them has a very dubious past. Would such a relationship be ethical?”

Andy’s face hardened into a mask. Hermione noticed it and glared at Umbridge.

“What’s wrong?” Harry whispered.

“Nothing,” Hermione forced herself to say.

“It depends on a lot of things,” Andy continued, his voice carefully deprived of emotion. “Are there laws against such a relationship? Has there been repentance for the shady past? As we already discussed in the class, we shouldn’t form opinions without having all the facts. Just based on your statement, I would say it’s not unethical if they aren’t currently in any questionable business and there are no rules against relationships in the workplace.”

Umbridge still smiled and she rose from her chair. “I think I’ve seen what I needed to see. I do want from you a list of subjects you will discuss in your next class so I can approve of them before you teach them.”

Andy’s eyes filled with anger and he pressed his lips together in discontent.

“And you will be getting an invitation for a hearing soon. The Muggle that learned our secrets, the Ministry feels strongly that it’s going against the International Statute of Wizarding Secrecy, so we’ll have another hearing and then Obliviate him.”

“The last hearing already ruled in his favour! He could keep his memory!” Andy shouted, stepping in Umbridge’s direction. “You can’t do that to him, he’s been building memories for years! Taking that away now is cruel and unethical. And you can’t even be sure he won’t rediscover our world on his own accord, making it pointless doing it in the first place!”

“You will be notified of the date, if you choose, you can try to defend him again.”

“This is corruption at its highest level! If you plan a hearing and have already decided on the verdict, then the hearing is just a charade. Just like with that Hippogriff, the fate of that creature was already decided and you still let Hagrid try to defend it!”

“Is there anything more you would like to say?” Umbridge asked serenely, with a small condescending smile on her face.

“Plenty,” Andy growled through his teeth, “but I’d rather keep my job.”

“Then we’ll leave it at that. Good day, Professor Bansing.”

Andy watched her leave and when the door was shut, he kicked the nearest empty chair across the classroom.

“Professor Bansing, are you okay?” Harry asked.

“Do I look okay?!” Andy fumed. “Right now the use of a good, old-fashioned Cruciatus Curse doesn’t seem that unethical.”

“It still is,” Hermione reminded him.

“I know that,” Andy replied with a sigh, regaining his composure. “Class dismissed. I’m not in the mood to talk about ethics right now.”

The students all looked at each other and reluctantly gathered their belongings.

“Sir,” Hermione began. “What Muggle was she talking about?”

Andy looked at her. “A Muggle who can see what we try to hide behind magic. He has a paranormal ability. I actually published something small about him and his hearing. It’s in the library for those who are interested.” He looked at the students who had gathered around him. “I’m sorry for my outburst.”

“That’s okay, sir,” Harry said. “She has that effect on people.”

“Next week we can talk about in what instances murder could be considered ethical.”

“It never is,” Hermione said.

“Great, there goes our topic for next week. Now I have to think about something new.”

The students laughed.

“Well,” Andy said. “I really am good again, so don’t worry. But you all still get the rest of the class off. So scram, enjoy your freedom. Except for Hermione, I need to have a word about that essay you submitted.”

The students started leaving, feeling better about the sudden dismissal now. Harry and Ron lingered in the doorway, but Andy closed the door in their face.

“Was something wrong with it?” Hermione asked, a hint of worry in her voice.

“No. It was actually really good. Congratulations; if you want to skip my class from now on you may.”

“Thank you. But I’ll still come if it’s the same to you. I like this class; you really do teach us valuable things.”

“I’m glad you feel that way. You’re not the first either. Fred and George never used their right to skip my classed either.”

“Fred and George?” Hermione repeated.

“Also an excellent essay; they are the ones I talked about on the first day. They hopelessly failed their exam though, but I strongly suspect they did it on purpose and were just having some fun. I kept their answers though, they were hilarious to read.” Andy took a piece of paper and his quill. “But the essay is not the only reason I asked you to stay behind. You are the only one who knows. Umbridge probably suspects something but doesn’t have proof.” He wrote a quick letter. “Please give this to Severus during your next Potions class, Umbridge will probably keep an eye on us and I don’t want to give her anything she could use against either of us.”

“I understand,” Hermione said, taking the note. “I will give it to him.”

“Thank you.” He watched the young witch go to the door, but with the handle in her hand she looked back.

“I haven’t told Harry or Ron, and I won’t, I promise.”

“I appreciate that.”

When Hermione left the classroom, Andy stayed a little while longer, thinking about what had happened. He decided to go to Dumbledore to tell him what had happened. If someone could protect Benjamin, it was Dumbledore. He just hoped he wouldn’t regret going to him; telling Severus to go to Dumbledore to protect Lily from Voldemort was something he had regretted ever since the war, especially now with Severus spying on Voldemort again. But, Andy was certain this time he wouldn’t be able to win the hearing and he could use Dumbledore’s help. His arguments were still the same as before, but apparently they felt confident enough to do the hearing again and get the result they wanted.

Hermione went to the library to find the report Professor Bansing had mentioned, so she could read it before her next class. This Muggle the professor had mentioned was interesting and maybe she could find something that would help Professor Bansing with his case. It didn’t take her long to find it and read through it, keeping an eye on the time because she didn’t want to be late for Potions.

As she was doing that, Andy went to Dumbledore and reported what had happened in his class. Dumbledore promised to take care of things and, much to Andy’s surprise, didn’t ask for any favours in return.

When the time for the next class came, Hermione went to the dungeon where they would brew the next potion. After setting everything up she took her book and walked to the desk in the front of the class.

“Professor Snape?” she asked.

“What is it, Miss Granger?”

“I have a question about this passage,” she said, opening the book and putting it on his desk. The folded piece of paper lay on one of the pages. “It says what happens when you go clockwise or counter-clockwise, but what happens if you change midway, or after going one full circle?”

Severus looked at the Gryffindor witch in front of him, this girl was bright enough to know that. He noticed she looked at the paper, then to him, then at the paper, and very faintly nodding to it; it looked like she wanted him to take it. He put his finger on the passage below, with the others he took the piece of paper. “It will ruin the potion.”

“Right, thank you.” Hermione took her book and quickly went back to her cauldron. There she stood with Harry and Ron, but she listened only partly to what the boys were saying. She kept her eyes on the professor as he read the paper.

Severus’s lips thinned, but otherwise showed no emotion. He began his class and it soon became apparent the news had affected him after all. He had less patience with everyone that day, even the Slytherins.

Andy didn’t like not being near Severus. Watching him from a distance after having him close by for years was painful.

“Did something happen?” Professor McGonagall asked.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Come now, Andy.” McGonagall said. “I’m not blind. I saw what was going on between you and Severus. I was glad to see him able to love something other than his Dark Arts.”

Andy smiled. “I guess we weren’t very good at hiding it after all. Umbridge suspects it too and I don’t want to give her anything she could use against either of us.”

“I understand,” McGonagall said with compassion in her voice and she took his arm. “I’m glad it’s just that then.”

Things happened quickly after that, Dumbledore had to leave the school, Umbridge became Headmistress, and for some reason they couldn’t find the Muggle for the hearing. Andy suspected Dumbledore had something to do with that, as did everyone else in the Ministry of Magic, but there was no proof of that.

One day, Harry left the school with others of his Dumbledore’s Army. Later, Andy learned what had happened: Harry and the others had actually fought Death Eaters. At least Voldemort’s return could not be ignored anymore: he had shown himself in the Ministry. It had come with a price and while he had never liked Black, nor had he ever forgiven him for what he had put Severus through, his demise was still a sad event.

Dumbledore returned and told Andy that his Muggle friend was safe.

But something almost equally as satisfying happened, too: Umbridge left. It had been fantastic to watch the students rebel against her, assisted by Peeves who quite enjoyed making her life a living nightmare. He had even helped the students. But that wasn’t as good as seeing her leave and Peeves chasing her away.


	9. Spectator Andy / Harry’s sixth year

“Congratulations,” Andy said as he stepped into Severus’s new office. “You finally got the position you’ve always wanted. Too bad my room is now closer to Slughorn than to you.”

“You know where to find me,” Severus said.

“I just hope you will be able to break the curse that has afflicted Defence Against the Dark Arts,” Andy had closed the door behind him and crossed the distance between them. “While I did like the idea of teaching kids, the main reason I came to Hogwarts was you. I’d rather not be stuck here without you.”

“Don’t worry,” Severus said, putting a hand on his cheek. “I won’t abandon you.”

* * *

Andy felt as if was riding along with the currents this year. He knew much of what was going on, Severus had told him what he could, which wasn’t a whole lot, but it was enough to know this year things could go very wrong. He knew Dumbledore had been a fool to don the ring he was supposed to destroy, but he reckoned everyone was susceptible to temptation.

There wasn’t anything he could do, not for Severus, not for Dumbledore. He just had to sit back and watch everything unfold.

He used his free time for his own research, letting Dumbledore, Severus, Harry and all the others do what they may. He had been in contact with Benjamin again, who had told him he had met someone with the ability to leave his body behind and walk around as a ghost without dying – he had seen him do it. And that reminded Andy of the Spirit Walkers his African wizard friend had told him about. They were people, not necessarily wizards, who could walk around as a spirit.

When Andy told Severus about it, he told him something interesting: Voldemort’s account of what the Killing Curse felt like. According to Severus, the Dark Lord had said it felt like having his soul ripped from his body. That led Andy to the theory that the Killing Curse could potentially be ineffective to people who had the ability to leave and re-enter their body at will. After thinking about it for a while, he went to Dumbledore and shared his theory.

“Fascinating,” Dumbledore said. “I think there is some merit to that theory. I don’t think there is an ethical way to test it though.”

“I am certain there is no ethical way to test that,” Andy said. “Even if we ignore the fact we can’t just randomly use the Killing Curse on someone and see what it does in the hopes it doesn’t do anything, the curse is still an Unforgivable one and I’d rather not get a one-way ticket into Azkaban just in the name of research.”

Dumbledore chuckled. “No, that would be unfortunate.”

“I do have a request. I had a talk about it with Professor Binns, who actually somehow remembered teaching History of Magic to me.”

“He doesn’t give much attention to his students, but he does remember those who do well on the O.W.L.s in his class.”

“Well, you’ll love this: he got all lively when I proposed we do research together. I want to delve further into the subject of Spirit Walkers and he is the only professor who can confirm things I can’t see for myself.”

“What is your request?”

“I want to invite some people to Hogwarts: two Muggles and a wizard from Africa who is an expert on the subject.”

“No research on magical creatures this year?”

“As much as I love being a Magizoologist, this year I want to focus on something else.”

Dumbledore gave it some thought but eventually nodded. “I assume one of the Muggles is Benjamin?”

“Benjamin and a friend of his. They are used keeping mum about what they can do because Muggles don’t believe in such things. Benjamin has proven he can be trusted with the secrets of the wizarding world.”

“Still, the Ministry won’t approve.”

“I can lie on the application and say they are Squibs. Or, better yet, just mention the man from Africa is a wizard and not mention what the other two are. It’s not my fault if they assume things.”

“Very well,” Dumbledore said, his eyes showing an amused sparkle, “I will approve of your guests. Invite them. They will be your responsibility when they are here.”

Andy picked up Benjamin and his friend Mike and brought them to Hogwarts, after making sure the Muggle-Repelling Charms wouldn’t affect them. For Mike it meant he saw a ruin change into a castle and he stared at it with his jaw dropped.   
Sometimes Muggles came to the castle, because their wizard-child graduated or got in some kind of trouble, and there were spells to allow them access to Hogwarts. But that didn’t make them see things Muggles normally couldn’t, like ghosts. Hogwarts was a real building, just hidden from view under a spell. Ghosts were imprints of the souls of wizards, which is why other wizards could still see them, whereas Muggles couldn’t.

Andy took the young men to Professor Binns. Of course Mike couldn’t see him, but Binns didn’t really notice that Mike didn’t answer his questions. Both Andy and Benjamin had prepared Mike for what he would see here, but he still looked overwhelmed by all the magic he could see.

After talking and requesting Mike to show what he could do, Andy decided a living human spirit and a ghosts weren’t the same thing. Whereas he and any wizard could see ghosts, he couldn’t see Mike leave his body. However, Professor Binns could. Which was good, because the testimony of a Muggle about another Muggle wouldn’t be considered real evidence. Andy complimented himself on bringing Binns into this research. It did raise more questions though, like: when did the invisible human spirit become a visible ghost? He had seen people dying, like many people during the Wizarding War with Voldemort, but now that he thought about it, he had never seen their spirit leave their body, even though every witch and wizard, even Squibs, could see ghosts. He wrote it down, but it was a question he most likely wouldn’t be able to answer. Even professor Binns didn’t know; he only knew he had died in the teachers lounge, getting up without realising he had died, and continued teaching.

Benjamin spent most of his time with the Hogwarts ghosts; he wanted to learn about helping spirits who were stuck in this realm to move on. Some ghosts were quite happy being here, but that wasn’t always the case. Some forgot the reason they lingered on earth and entered a state of just being, not noticing anything of the world around them anymore. And those were the ghosts Benjamin wished to help move on.

Soon Elewa came to Hogwarts too. He was greeted by Dumbledore, who had a long conversation with him in his office. Later, Elewa went to Andy, who introduced him to Severus.

“I’m glad to finally meet you,” Elewa said. “I heard many good things about you from Andy.”

“He talked about you too,” Severus said, shaking Elewa’s hand.

“Andy is part of my family, which means so are you, because you are important to him.”

Severus tensed up, but relaxed when he felt Andy’s hand on his shoulder. “I’m honoured,” he said.

Later that day, Andy took Elewa, Benjamin and Mike for a walk. During the walk Elewa talked about Spirit Walkers; as far as he was aware only five to ten Spirit Walkers were on the earth at any given time, and they had the unique ability to leave their body behind. An evil Spirit Walker could be as deadly as a Lethifold, but most were not evil or didn’t fully unlock their potential and learn the deadly skill of pushing someone’s soul from their body. Judging by Mike’s astonished expression the boy didn’t even know that was possible. Elewa told them about a story he had heard: an evil Spirit Walker had turned against the people of his village, but after killing about twenty villagers he had died himself. This had led to the theory that killing someone in their spirit-state would take away from their natural lifespan.

“Does that scare you?” Elewa asked Mike.

“I hope I’ll never find out I can do that…” Mike muttered.

“Good!” Andy said as he hit Mike’s shoulder. “Murder damages the soul. One of our Unforgivable Curses is the Killing Curse. Like Spirit Walkers, there is no defence against it. If it hits you, you die. But we believe murdering someone with the curse damages the soul. The only one who ever made more than twenty victims with that curse is Voldemort, but as I understand it his soul is already a mess and he found ways to stay alive, so we can’t use him as a comparison to the effects on someone’s lifespan when using the curse.” 

They ventured into the Forbidden Forest, Andy had promised Elewa he could meet the centaurs and he thought the Muggles would like to see them too. However, before reaching them, a cloaked man stepped on their path. Andy recognised the clothes as what Death Eaters wore and drew his wand, but another quickly disarmed him.

“The Dark Lord wants to speak to your friend,” the Death Eater said.

“I will not come,” Elewa spoke, his voice calm but resolute. “I have heard about your Dark Lord and I do not wish to acquaint myself with him.”

“Like you will have a choice,” the Death Eater spat.

Elewa drew his wand as Andy searched for his and summoned a yellow orb that broke apart in a thousand yellow fireflies, swarming around the man. The Death Eater stepped back, swatting at the magical insects, but another Death Eater appeared at the scene and disarmed Elewa.

“The choice is simple: you come with us, or you die here,” the second Death Eater spoke, a woman judging by her voice.

Elewa put his hands close together and muttered a spell.

“Death it is then,” the female Death Eater spoke and aimed her wand. “Avada–”

“No!” Andy wanted to jump forward, but the first Death Eater hit him with a stunning spell.

At the same time, Mike had come into action too: he may not have been a wizard, but he knew Elewa needed more time and it looked like the African wizard was the only one who could save them all.

“–Kedavra!”

As the spell left the wand, Mike stood in front of Elewa and got hit by the Killing Curse. It pushed his spirit from his body, which fell to the ground.

“Mike!” Benjamin called.

Mike looked down at his body and then at Benjamin, who looked straight at him. He gestured to his friend that he felt fine and went back to his body, merging with it and opening his eyes. The Death Eater stared at him in disbelief.

“Ha!” Andy exclaimed. “I knew it!”

Elewa had finished his spell and plants shot out from the ground, grabbing the two Death Eaters. They screamed as they were pulled into the ground and soon not a trace of them was left.

“Wow…” Andy muttered.

“Wait, why are you surprised?” Benjamin asked.

“I may be a wizard, but that doesn’t mean I’ve seen all the magic in the world.” He turned to Mike. “Do you feel okay?”

“Yeah, that didn’t sever the connection I have with my body.”

“Did you know that would happen?”

Mike shook his head. “I didn’t even know what spell that was, I just thought Elewa needed more time to finish whatever he was doing.”

Andy rubbed the back of his neck. “That… was the Killing Curse I mentioned earlier. And like I said: normal people don’t have a defence against it. We just die when it hits us. So… you took quite a risk there.”

Mike had paled when he heard the name of the curse. “K-killing curse? I…” He wavered and fell to the ground.

“Maybe,” Andy said as he looked at Elewa, “we can visit the centaurs tomorrow.”

Elewa nodded. “I think we’ve had enough excitement for one day.”

“I-I’m fine,” Mike muttered. “I really want to see those centaurs.”

“Okay.” Andy found his wand and hid it in his robe again, it didn’t take Elewa long to find his either. They continued to the centaurs but didn’t stay very long.

Once they were back in the castle, Andy went straight to Dumbledore’s office. “Did I ever tell you what an amazing researcher I am?” he asked as he entered the office.

“I have no doubt you will tell me all about it,” Dumbledore replied amicably.

“I was right about the Killing Curse! It doesn’t affect Spirit Walkers at all!” He explained to Dumbledore what had happened.

“Fortune favours the brave,” Dumbledore muttered. “He could have died.”

“He realised that after I told him, but let’s focus for a moment on how awesome I am. My hypothesis was spot on!”

“I always knew you were a fine researcher, I read your work. Too bad it’s not something that will help a lot of people.”

“It only affects Spirit Walkers, who according to Elewa are in very few numbers present. This discovery will have no use for the general population whatsoever!” He sounded more enthusiastic than the statement called for, and Dumbledore let out an amused sound. “You know,” Andy said, walking closer to the desk, “you really don’t look well. Are you going to ask Severus to kill you soon?”

Dumbledore’s head jerked and he stared at Andy.

“Don’t look at me like that, we talk. Who else is Severus going to talk to when he feels conflicted about something? It’s not an easy request, you know.”

“What are you talking about?”

“I know everything you and Severus talked about. So maybe this is a good moment to say I will never forgive you for taking advantage of Severus’s promise to do anything for you in exchange for Lily’s safety, by making him risk his life for you. That Fidelius Charm didn’t pose any kind of personal risk to you. Keeping your precious members of the Order safe should be something you’d do because you want them to be safe. You should have thanked him for the information and ensured her safety because the Order of the Phoenix protect their members against Voldemort. But instead you used Severus and then continue to use him for your plans with Harry, even though it was never your intention to keep him safe but to have him die at the right time. And now Severus is back to risking his life for you, and then you tell him that all the sacrifices he made weren’t for keeping Lily’s son safe. You are a manipulative bastard.”

“You are entitled to feel that way.” Dumbledore had a strict look in his eyes. “If Severus trusts you with all that delicate information, you should work on your Occlumency.”

Andy put his hands on Dumbledore’s desk and leaned forward. “I’m a better Occlumens than I led you to believe. Severus taught me Occlumency, but I don’t shield my entire mind, I hide the things I don’t want people to know and keep the rest like an open book. They see it’s easy to read me and don’t even begin to dig deeper for the things I don’t want them to read. Severus trusts me with everything he tells me and I won’t betray his trust. Just like I didn’t betray Elewa’s trust and kept the magic I learned from him a secret.”

“It seems…” Dumbledore said. “I may have underestimated you.”

“Don’t feel bad,” Andy said as he stood up straight again. “I kinda lead people into underestimating me. It’s safer to be underestimated.”

“I’m glad you are on Severus’s side. He needs you.”

“I will always be there for him; I don’t need you to tell me that.”

Dumbledore nodded, a faint smile on his face. “I know. But promise me this: honour Severus’s secrets. Even when it doesn’t seem right to keep it secret. Severus didn’t want anyone to know and I’ve always honoured that request. Let him choose if or when he wants to reveal it.”

“I promise to keep his secrets secret.” Andy put a hand on his waist. “If you will excuse me now, I have to go back to being awesome and then I have an ethics class to teach.”

“In which, I have to say, you do a fantastic job,” Dumbledore said.

Andy nodded one, saluted with a single finger tap against the side of his head, and left the office.

* * *

One day Andy’s fear became reality: Severus was forced out the school. The curse on Defence Against the Dark Arts had once again gotten hold of its teacher.

Death Eaters had invaded and he fought them alongside Lupin and McGonagall. Severus came down the stairs, pushing Draco Malfoy further. They locked eyes and that’s when Andy knew: Severus had killed Dumbledore and someone had seen it. It wasn’t long before Harry arrived at the scene, running in the same direction as Severus and Draco. Of course it had to be Harry who had witnessed it.

Since it looked like they were on the winning end in the castle, Andy decided to follow Harry. The boy was probably in over his head again, and he couldn’t let Harry hurt Severus.

He followed Harry outside and he saw Severus further ahead, going towards the gate. That made sense, Severus needed to Disapparate; that was the only quick way for leaving Hogwarts. A blond Death Eater was attacking Hagrid, but it looked like Hagrid was handling him. Andy kept an eye on it in case Hagrid needed his help, but he was more worried about Severus.

Harry tried to fire curse after curse at Severus, but he parried everything Harry threw at him. Andy got close enough to hear Harry try to do the Cruciatus curse twice. Severus berated him for trying to cast Unforgivable Curses and taunted his audacity and ability to even attempt it. Andy watched Harry trying another curse, but again Severus effortlessly deflected the spell.

“Fight back, you cowardly–” he heard Harry shout.

Andy uttered something under his breath, Severus could be called a lot of things, but coward wasn’t one of them. He wanted nothing more than to grab Harry and tell him exactly why he was wrong, but he knew he couldn’t. He had promised Severus he would keep his secrets, and he had promised Dumbledore too. He heard Severus point out, rightly so, that James never attacked him unless he was with his friends.

One of the Death Eaters attacked and Andy had to fight back. He noticed how the blond Death Eater used the Cruciatus curse on Harry, gloating over the fact Harry would surely die of the agony.

“No!” Severus roared and the Death Eater stopped. “Have you forgotten our orders? Potter belongs to the Dark Lord; we are to leave him!” He urged everyone to go and locked eyes with Andy, but quickly ran along with the three Death Eaters and Draco again. Andy did nothing to stop them.

Next to him Harry managed to get up and go after Severus again. “Sectum–” he began and Andy looked at him, recognising the beginning of Severus’s own curse.

Severus blocked it with ease. “You dare use my own spells against me, Potter?” he taunted him and then revealed he was the one who invented the curse, that he was the Half-Blood Prince. “You’d turn my inventions on me, like your filthy father?” Severus asked Harry with disdain in his voice, but when he saw Harry dive for his wand, he quickly used a jet of air to let the wand disappear into the darkness.

“Kill me then,” Harry panted. “Kill me like you killed him, you coward!”

Severus stared at him, his face contorting with hatred and pain, Andy wanted nothing more than to walk over, hold him and comfort him, but he stopped himself. “Don’t call me a coward!” Severus screamed and he used his wand to make sure Harry wouldn’t be able to follow him for a while. Suddenly a hippogriff dove down and Severus had to defend himself, staggering back to avoid the sharp claws and beak.

Andy didn’t hesitate; he aimed his wand and used the stunning spell at the creature, but it was only partly affective, just stalling the creature long enough for Severus to make a run for it. People could probably mistake it for trying to stop Severus, but Severus knew who the Stupefy was meant for.

Severus ran for the gate again as Harry searched for his wand, frantically digging in the grass and discarding twigs. By the time he had the wand, Severus had managed to get through the gate and Disapparate. Before disappearing he locked eyes with Andy a final time.

As Harry stood next to Andy, staring at the gate, the hippogriff circled above the area Severus had Disapparated from. Andy let out a sigh and returned to the castle to find McGonagall as Harry went to see if Hagrid was okay.

A bit later that day Andy and Professor McGonagall walked through the castle to the hospital wing. Somewhere outside a phoenix sang its song, the most beautiful and sad song Andy had ever heard.

“Fawkes,” he said, to which Professor McGonagall nodded, her eyes showing a tiredness that went beyond the physical, and a moist layer that could easily turn into tears, but she held herself strong.

With the song echoing around the castle, they entered the ward, taking in who had gathered here.

“Molly and Arthur are on their way,” McGonagall said, turning her attention to Harry. “Harry, what happened? According to Hagrid you were with Professor Dumbledore when he… when it happened. He says Professor Snape was involved in some–”

“Snape killed Dumbledore,” Harry said with a broken voice.

McGonagall stared at Harry, swaying on her feet. Madam Pomfrey was the first to react; she conjured a chair and pushed it under the professor, who fell into it. “Snape…” she repeated. “We all wondered… but he trusted… always… Snape… I can’t believe it…”

“Snape was a highly accomplished Occlumens,” Lupin mentioned with a harsh sound in his voice. Andy looked at him; it was rather uncharacteristic for him. “We always knew that.”

“But Dumbledore swore he was on our side!” Tonks whispered, rubbing her hands together. “I always thought Dumbledore must know something about Snape that we didn’t…”

“He always hinted that he had an ironclad reason for trusting Snape,” Professor McGonagall whispered. With trembling fingers she wiped the tears from the corner of her eyes and blew her nose in the tartan-edged handkerchief. “I mean… with Snape’s history… of course people were bound to wonder… but Dumbledore told me explicitly that Snape’s repentance was absolutely genuine… wouldn’t hear a word against him!”

Andy looked away, not wanting anyone to see the anger flare up in his eyes. The repentance was genuine and he was glad Dumbledore had seen it too. Now he was left here listening to them believing Severus had betrayed them, after all he had risked for them.

“I’d love to know what Snape told him to convince him,” Tonks said, a sudden harsh sound in her voice.

“I know,” Harry said, and they all turned to look at him. “Snape passed Voldemort the information that made Voldemort hunt down my mum and dad. Then Snape told Dumbledore he hadn’t realised what he was doing, he was really sorry he’d done it, sorry that they were dead.”

Andy examined the boy; he knew the partial truth. And those people were most dangerous, because they acted on what they thought was the full truth, which could lead to making the wrong decisions. Should he tell Harry? Would he even believe him?

“And Dumbledore believed that?” Lupin sounded as if he couldn’t believe what he had just heard. “Dumbledore believed Snape was sorry James was dead? Snape hated James…”

“And he didn’t think my mother was worth a damn either,” Harry added, “because she was Muggle-born… ‘Mudblood,’ he called her…”

Andy closed his eyes, rubbing his face. Could he tell them? He didn’t know how Harry had known all that, but the boy didn’t know the full story, just bits and pieces of it. Should he tell them? Neither Dumbledore nor Snape had ever told them the truth; Snape had made him swear not to tell anyone last year, when he was preparing to be a spy again. Dumbledore had asked to keep the truth to himself only last week, during their meeting. Neither had insisted on an Unbreakable Vow, just his promise. He knew Severus didn’t deserve their hatred, but was it his place to give away his secret?

The voice of McGonagall tore him from his inner debate. Compassion crept in his eyes when she said it was her fault. As she stared off into the distance, fiddling with her handkerchief, she went on about how it was her fault because she had sent someone to alert Snape.

“It isn’t your fault, Minerva,” Lupin quickly said, putting a comforting hand on her shoulder. “We all wanted more help; we were glad to think Snape was on his way…”

McGonagall turned to Andy. “You and Snape were close…”

Andy’s face was like a mask. “I didn’t know this would happen either,” he stated with a voice devoid of emotion. He turned around and left; he couldn’t bear being there and watching them lose all their trust in Severus.

Outside the ward he leaned against the wall. He still wasn’t sure what he needed to do now. But he knew one thing for sure: Hogwarts would be a very lonely place without Severus.

The door opened and Hermione came out. “Professor Bansing?” she asked, carefully closing the door behind her. “Did you know–”

“I honestly didn’t know Severus would use the Killing Curse on Dumbledore tonight,” Andy interrupted her, hoping the smart witch wouldn’t pick up on his choice of words. “But I knew about his past of course. And I knew… the repentance was genuine. I know it’s hard to believe now, because Harry saw what he saw. But if you remember from my class last year, what we see is often not the whole story and no-one knows Severus’s side of the story. We shouldn’t condemn him for what we saw without knowing why he did it.”

“You still love him, don’t you?”

A sad smile appeared on his face and he turned to look at the young witch. “Of course. Love isn’t a switch that you can turn on and off. I love him unconditionally, but that doesn’t mean I approve of what he does. When he was a Death Eater in the first war I fought to protect Muggles and Muggle-borns, but I loved him. I will do that now as well.”

Hermione nodded. “Will you… attend Bill and Fleur’s wedding too? We were just talking about it.”

“Arthur is a friend and I got invited. I’ll definitely be there.”


	10. The Battle for Hogwarts / Harry’s seventh year

After Severus had Disapparated from Hogwarts, he seemed to have disappeared from Andy’s life. Severus wasn’t at his home in Spinners End, which meant he was with Voldemort. Andy didn’t get any letters about his wellbeing or whereabouts, and he didn’t dare sending one; if Voldemort realised Severus wasn’t on his side, he would kill him.

Andy attended both the Weasleys’ wedding and Dumbledore’s funeral, and hoped for a quiet vacation after that, but then Muggle-Born Registration Commission formed. Immediately he fought against the decision of forming the Registration Commission, whose purpose, on paper, was to learn how Muggle-borns could have become magical, but in reality wanted to remove them from the wizarding community altogether.

His report, listing all the reasons why such a registration was morally wrong and that the idea that Muggle-borns had somehow stolen magic was preposterous, was ignored by the corrupt Ministry of Magic. He had also written an open letter to all local Wizarding newspapers to strongly urge Muggle-borns not to voluntarily register them, as nothing good could come from being registered. But some had no choice, because a magical education at Hogwarts was now compulsory, and parents had to register if they wanted their children to study there. Only those that didn’t have children of age could avoid the registration – if they were smart about it.

Umbridge, the leader of the commission, also informed him that after dealing with the Muggle-borns, who only had to prove they had at least one wizarding relative in order to avoid punishment for theft, she would turn her attention to his Muggle friend.

He travelled to Benjamin’s home to warn him, then brought him and his spirit-walking friend to Africa, where he was certain they would be safe from Umbridge. Elewa promised Andy that he’d take care of them.

“Be careful,” Elewa said to Andy. “I foresee a battle you may not win. Death will touch you or those around you.” He took Andy’s face between his hands. “You are a member of my family. If this dark wizard kills you, I will curse him.”

“I will make sure he gets the warning,” Andy promised. “Or not. I don’t want to bring his attention to you. Just keep these Muggles safe, please.”

Benjamin joined him. “What will you do?”

“What I always did: try to protect those who need it from the Death Eaters and their preposterous views.” After answering the question he turned to the African wizard. “Elewa, you are my brother, but I fear I may ask too much.”

“Ask me, my brother.”

“Can I bring other wizards here to hide them from our Ministry? Evil has taken over, and I don’t know how else I can keep them safe. If may be dangerous to hide them though.”

“Fear not, we will keep them safe. If innocent lives are at stake we will do what we can to protect them, even if they are from another part of the world.”

After that Andy travelled a lot between England and Africa, tracking down Muggle-borns before Umbridge could locate them and bringing them to safety, at least those who wanted to go into hiding. He couldn’t find many; some were smart enough to stay silent about their heritage and remained undetected; others had gone into hiding themselves. Others were found by Umbridge first.

A week before the new school year at Hogwarts, he received a letter informing him he would be teaching Care of Magical Creatures that year, and that he had to report to the newly-appointed Headmaster.

Andy reluctantly returned to Hogwarts and walked to the office of the Headmaster. There was no trace of his usual cheerfulness and optimism; he had much rather resigned and hide in Africa for research, but he couldn’t abandon his colleagues and students in these dark times. After a sigh he knocked on the door of the Headmaster. When he recognised the voice that allowed him entrance, he threw open the door.

“Severus?!”

“You didn’t read the newspaper?”

“I’ve been… busy the last month,” Andy said, staying as vague as he could.

“I see.” Severus looked at him with an expression devoid of any emotion. “The Ministry of Magic belongs to us now and they made me Headmaster.”

“Congratulations.”

“Andy… I need to know if you’re still on my side.”

Andy looked at Severus. “You are the Legilimens.”

“You know I never use Legilimency on you, I respect your privacy. And you are a decent Occlumens yourself.”

A silence fell between them, which Andy broke when he let out an amused laugh. “Honestly, I’m surprised you have to ask. I’ve always been on your side. That hasn’t changed. The question is, has your side changed?”

Severus shook his head. “Dumbledore may be dead, but it wasn’t he that kept me on his side. As Headmaster, I will try my best to keep the students of Hogwarts safe while serving the Dark Lord. I will need your help.”

“I will help you,” Andy promised. “But tell me, Headmaster, what is this nonsense about teaching Care of Magical Creatures?”

“It was decided we didn’t need an Ethics class anymore and Muggle Studies will be taught by Alecto Carrow. They wanted to appoint you since you were listed as a back-up teacher, but I knew you would teach the same things as Charity Burbage and her views on Muggles is what got her killed.” Regret flashed up in his eyes as he recalled her pleas to help her, but it was gone before Andy could comment on it. “So I intervened and gave you another class to teach.”

“Understood. Care of Magical Beasts it is.” Charity dead? It looked like Severus didn't want to talk about that, so he wouldn't bring it up. Not yet, anyway. But that stung. He always enjoyed spending time with her and talk about Muggles. 

“I do expect you to plan something and not wing it like your Ethics class.”

Andy grinned. “You’re asking a whole lot, but I will comply.” He was about to leave when he remembered something. “What about Hagrid?”

“He is still the gamekeeper like he always was, but when I told him you couldn’t stay at Hogwarts if you didn’t have a class to teach and that teaching Muggle Studies would likely get you killed, he agreed to step down and let you take over.”

“I will visit him then and thank him from the bottom of my heart. I will probably have to buy a dragon egg first.”

Severus narrowed his eyes. “Don’t make me regret my decision.”

Andy smiled, touching Severus’s cheek and moving in to kiss him. “I promise you won’t regret it.”

It would be another day before the students would arrive and Severus and Andy went for a walk through Hogsmeade, although Andy thought the village was rather gloomy now. Not full of life as it always had been.

“So, where is Voldemort now?” Andy asked.

Almost instantly three Death Eaters Apparated around them, wands aimed at them. “Who spoke the Dark Lord’s name?”

“We can’t say his name now?” Andy asked.

“There is a Taboo on his name,” Severus quickly explained, before turning to the other Death Eaters. “He was abroad. He didn’t know.”

“Why does Voldemort want a Taboo on his own chosen name?”

Immediately more Death Eaters Apparated to their location, all with their wands drawn.

“Okay, you win!” Andy exclaimed. “From now on I will call him ‘Voldy’, will that make you guys happy?”

“Speak with some respect of your Dark Lord!” Lucius exclaimed.

“Oh, come on Lucy, you should know nicknames are a form of endearment.”

Lucius seemed ready to use the Killing Curse on Andy; the tip of his wand quivered.

“Wands down,” Severus barked. “Andy is on our side. Focus on finding members of the Order of the Phoenix instead. He will not use the Taboo again.” Severus gave Andy a warning look. “Right?”

“Fine,” Andy sighed. “I’ll keep it in mind. Sorry for wasting your time, guys. But your response time is excellent, if I ever come face to face with the Dark Lord I will make sure to praise your speed and punctuality.”

Once the other Death Eaters were gone, Severus turned to look at Andy. “Don’t ever tell them I said this, but that was amusing.”

“Did you see Lucy’s face? I bet he imagined cramming that wand up my nose and send a Killing curse straight in my brain.”

Severus shook his head. “Why is it that even in the darkest of times, you can make me forget for just a moment the cruel reality of the world?”

“Because I am awesome.” He gave Severus a pat on the back. “But you, Mr Headmaster, should think about returning to Hogwarts. I’m going to get drunk in the Hog’s Head.”

They parted ways and Andy went into the inn to order a firewhisky and drink it while keeping an eye on the bit of village he could see from his table. The year would start soon; all he had to do was keep the students safe from Death Eaters while teaching them something about magical creatures. He sighed. If he had to be in a gloomy village and teach in a gloomy castle, which already seemed three shades darker just knowing Death Eaters were in control now, he definitely needed to have a drink first. And maybe a second after that.

The innkeeper even joined him for the second and they talked about Hogsmeade.

* * *

While it wasn’t his choice of teaching, Andy found he enjoyed teaching students about taking care of magical creatures. He did borrow Hagrid’s lesson plan because he hadn’t prepared anything. He went to Hagrid’s hut for tea more often than in previous years, it was important to keep some distance between himself and Severus, and he wanted to keep Hagrid involved in the class he was teaching. The year went by without any major incidents in his class, but Andy did notice rebellions starting here and there, and he was aware of Dumbledore’s Army being resurrected, but he turned a blind eye, even covering for the students when either of the Carrows were close.

Most students who were punished with detention ended up with Hagrid; a deliberate move fromSeverus to spare the children from being on the receiving end of the Torturing Curse that Carrow loved using.

One day, as Andy and Severus casually walked through Hogwarts, Severus suddenly turned and said one of the Carrows had found an intruder. Andy joined him and it wasn’t long before they noticed McGonagall who had summoned three Patronuses. 

Severus started to question her and Andy leaned with his back against the wall as he watched them. Suddenly McGonagall slashed her wand through the air, but Severus was able to shield himself with a spell. The two began to duel and the other three Heads soon joined them. Andy wanted to take his wand to help Severus, but he gestured to Andy to stay out of it. Severus had no choice but to flee; he ran into an abandoned classroom and jumped through the window.

McGonagall turned to Andy, her wand aimed at his heart. “What side are you on?”

Andy’s face was like a mask as he hid his emotions regarding the matter. “You know my feelings in the matter, but I stand against Voldy and his band of cronies.”

McGonagall nodded once and moved to act. She summoned all the students to the Great Hall and told them that those that were old enough could stay to fight, but the younger students would all be evacuated. As the evacuation began, McGonagall engaged the defences of the castle, including the suits of armour.

The members of the Order of the Phoenix and the teachers of Hogwarts agreed on a battle plan.

Suddenly the voice of Voldemort sounded throughout the area. “I know that you are preparing to fight. Your efforts are futile. You cannot fight me. I do not want to kill you. I have great respect for the teachers of Hogwarts. I do not want to spill magical blood. Give me Harry Potter, and they shall not be harmed. Give me Harry Potter and I shall leave the school untouched. Give me Harry Potter and you will be rewarded. You have until midnight.”

“How very generous of him,” Andy said.

The battle of Hogwarts began, it was teacher and student against Death Eater. Wizards and witches duelled everywhere and Andy did his part in the battle, but his mind often went to Severus, wondering where he was or what he was doing.

Running around corners in pursuit of a Death Eater, Andy almost bumped into Harry, Ron and Hermione. After taking care of the enemy they stayed together and noticed Fred and Percy backing into view, duelling two hooded Death Eaters. The four of them ran forward to help, sending curses, hexes and jinxes in their direction.

The man duelling Percy backed off and his hood slipped, revealing his face.

“Hello Minister!” Percy said, a cocky smile around his lips, attacking him with a spell. “Did I mention I’m resigning?”

“You’re joking, Perce!” Fred shouted. “You actually are joking, Perce… I don’t think I’ve heard you joke since you were–”

Suddenly the wall next to them exploded, sending everyone flying backwards. Andy groaned as he turned to his side and then pushed himself up, his ears ringing. “Damn it…” He looked around to see if everyone was okay. Some broken bricks slid off his back as he rose to his feet and he helped Hermione up. Harry was half buried under the rubble, but he seemed to be in one piece.

“Fred!” Percy shouted.

Andy rushed to his side, Fred coughed and looked awfully pale, a bit of blood dripping from the side of his mouth. “Hang in there, Fred. I’ll get you out of this.”

“It… hurts.”

“I know.” With the help of Percy he managed to get Fred over his shoulder, staggering under the weight, and turned to the hole in the wall.

“What are you going to do?” Ron asked, trying his best not to cry.

“We’re jumping down, we need grass!” Andy walked to the hole, but a spider crawled through. “Ventus Duo!” Andy shouted, blowing the spider back through the wall. He went for the wall and scowled when he saw all the spiders. “Hermione, clean the wall.” He aimed his wand down. “Uhambo!” A yellow light shot down, missing all the spiders, but Hermione used the wind jinx to push the spiders off the wall. “Everyone grab my arms, we’re jumping now!”

No-one argued. With Percy and Ron on one side and Harry and Hermione on the other, Andy jumped with Fred still over his shoulder.

As they tumbled down the wall, the yellow light he had shot away returned in the form of a large sphere. It collided with them and Andy pointed the wand, making the sphere go in that direction. The sphere shot to the nearest patch of grass Andy could see and he let it dissolve when they were above it. Everyone fell. Fred rolled through the grass, his laborious breathing turning into gasps. Andy pushed his wand against Fred’s heart. “Umuthi!”

A gentle green light rolled over Fred and the earth seemed to swallow him – he sank halfway into the grass. Both Ron and Percy grabbed Fred, whose breathing stopped.

“Now what?” Ron asked, tears running down his face.

“We wait. The magic works, but I don’t know if I was in time.” He turned to Harry. “What’s next?”

“We have to kill Nagini.” Harry looked inside Voldemort’s mind to see where he was. “He ordered Malfoy to get Snape. They are in the Shrieking Shack.”

“Let’s go then,” Andy said.

“Wait!” Ron said, jumping up. “Why are you leaving?”

“I can’t do more for Fred than I already have, but you two need to protect him. He can still be killed in this state. You stay with your brother, I will go with Harry and Hermione.”

“But…”

“Ron,” Hermione said. “Please let Andy come. It’s important.”

Reluctantly Ron sat down next to Fred again.

“The spell should have worked in five minutes,” Andy said as Harry and Hermione waited for him. “When the light fades either he will open his eyes or not. Until then, watch over him.”

The three of them ran to the other side of the castle where the Whomping Willow stood, but Dementors glided towards them before they could reach it. Harry was unable to produce his Patronus, losing his hope for this battle, and neither could Andy, whose fear for Severus’s wellbeing made it impossible to focus on any good memory. Hermione’s Patronus alone was no match for the Dementors, but then other Patronuses joined the fight. Luna managed to get through to Harry, who broke out of his apathy and summoned his Patronus too. When the Dementors scattered, the three of them went for the Whomping Willow again. Hermione used the Levitation charm to stop the Willow from thrashing around and the three of them crawled into the opening between the roots, using their wands to illuminate the path ahead.

Finally they reached the Shrieking Shack. Before entering the shack, Harry put the Invisibility Cloak around them, and they extinguished their wands.

They went to the room ahead, hearing voices coming from it. The snake floated there in an enchanted, blue-ish sphere and they could hear Voldemort and Severus talk. Hermione glanced to Andy, who listened at the conversation with increasing worry.

Severus offered to find Potter and bring him here several times, but Voldemort wouldn’t hear anything of it, claiming Potter would come to him. He changed the subject to the Elder Wand, claiming it only did his normal magic and he had seen nothing of the extraordinary powers the wand should possess. He praised Severus as a faithful and valuable servant, and he regretted what he had to be, but the Elder Wand would not serve him as long as his previous owner still lived.

Andy opened his mouth and wanted to move, but Hermione grabbed his arm and pleaded with her eyes to stay put. While he complied, Andy held his wand and aimed it at the scene.

Severus tried to explain the situation, and it pained Andy to watch him do that and fail, because Voldemort had made up his mind. Voldemort swiped the air with his wand before Severus finished his plea, and Nagini’s cage rolled through the air. Quickly Andy muttered a spell and a shock went through Severus’s body, and then Nagini’s sphere encased his head and shoulders. Voldemort hissed an order and the snake lunged forward, piercing his neck. Severus screamed and Andy closed his eyes, feeling a comforting hand of Hermione on his back.

Voldemort pointed at the cage again and it drifted up, Severus fell sideways to the ground, clutching his bleeding neck. Without a second glance, Voldemort left the room, his serpent floating after him in her safe bubble.

After Voldemort left the shack Andy rushed from under the cloak and grabbed Severus. “Hold on,” he said, not even trying to stop the tears.

“Potter,” Severus croaked.

“Let me handle it!” Andy pointed his wand to the wall and blasted a hole in it. He and Hermione dragged Severus outside and onto the grass, Harry following as if he wasn’t certain why they were going through all this effort for their enemy. Andy pushed his wand against Severus’s heart and shouted: “Umuthi!”

Just like with Fred, the ground pulled Severus down and a light green light encased him. “Please, oh please,” Andy muttered, stroking Severus’s cheek. “Let it be on time…”

“Why are you healing him?” Harry asked, hostility dripping from his voice.

Andy looked at him. “It’s time you learn the truth. Sit down, I will tell you and I will show you.”

Reluctantly Harry sat down. Andy muttered a spell and touched Severus’s forehead with his wand, pulling a silvery-blue wisp, neither gas nor liquid, from his forehead. Then he put the tip of the wand against Harry’s forehead. The two were connected by the memory line.

“My words will show you Severus’s relevant memories, so I will talk you through the story. We begin with his childhood, when he met Lily Evans for the first time. They became friends, she was the only friend he ever had. I was sorted in the same year as Severus, I watched Lily being sorted in Gryffindor, and Severus into Slytherin.”

Hermione listened to the story, but as Andy talked, Harry was able to see the memories as if he were gazing in a Pensieve.

Suddenly the voice of Voldemort sounded through the area as if he stood in front of them.

“You have fought valiantly. Lord Voldemort knows how to value bravery. Yet you have sustained heavy losses. If you continue to resist me, you will all die, one by one. I do not wish this to happen. Every drop of magical blood spilled is a loss and a waste. Lord Voldemort is merciful. I command my forces to retreat immediately. You have one hour. Dispose of your dead with dignity. Treat your injured. I speak now, Harry Potter, directly to you. You have permitted your friends to die for you rather than face me yourself. I shall wait for one hour in the Forbidden Forest. If, at the end of that hour, you have not come to me, have not given yourself up, then battle recommences. This time, I shall enter the fray myself, Harry Potter, and I shall find you, and I shall punish every last man, woman, and child who has tried to conceal you from me. One hour.”

Harry and Hermione looked at each other and then at Andy.

“Don’t worry, we still have time. The magic has to heal Severus first, we can’t leave him like this.”

Harry nodded once.

“Despite the Death Eater friends Severus had made,” Andy continued the story, “Lily stayed his friend and defended him, but she told him she didn’t like his Slytherin friends. They remained friends until that day he called her a mudblood. It changed everything between them. She didn’t want to hear his excuses. But he still loved her, although from a distance. When she started dating James, the boy he loathed, he didn’t even try to curse him. He valued her happiness over his own and he knew Lily would never forgive him if he hurt James.” Andy realized those words may have triggered the conversation he had about it with Severus, as Harry suddenly stared at him. He decided to go further, but to carefully avoid mentioning himself from now on, because he didn’t want to trigger memories of being intimate. He was fairly certain there were laws in place against exposing students to pornographic images of their teachers.

“As Lily had rightly claimed, he had chosen his path and joined the Death Eaters. You already know that he overheard a part of the prophecy and reported it to his lord. But when Voldemort decided the boy in the prophecy was you, Harry, Severus realised that if Lily died, it would be his fault. He couldn’t bear that thought – he still loved her. First he begged Voldemort to spare her, and he promised he would, but Severus didn’t trust him to keep his word. So, I suggested to seek out Dumbledore, which honestly is a decision I regret to this day.” He scowled as he thought about that, but it was in the past and it couldn’t be changed.

“Anyway,” he continued, “Severus went to Dumbledore, whose words made him realise Lily would be heartbroken if her husband and child were to perish. He offered Dumbledore anything as long as he would keep her – them – safe. But Dumbledore couldn’t; the Potters were betrayed, Voldemort didn’t keep his word, and Severus discovered the body of the woman he so deeply loved. He mourned her; he wished…” Andy swallowed hard; this was still a rather painful memory. “He wished he was dead. Even I couldn’t…” He broke off, the muscles in his jaw tightening and Hermione touched his arms to show her compassion again.

“Dumbledore offered him something to focus on. Her son had survived and he urged him to not let Lily’s death be in vain; he asked Severus to help him protect you, Harry. Severus agreed, became a teacher at Hogwarts, and has worked with Dumbledore ever since.”

Andy paused, looking at Severus. “Severus insisted Dumbledore would never tell anyone, but that is the reason why Dumbledore never doubted, why he called the repentance genuine. It was. It still is. Severus has risked a lot to keep his part of the deal: he spied on Voldemort in the first war and when Voldemort returned he went back to spy for Dumbledore. Dumbledore once commented that he though we sometimes Sort too soon, and in Severus’s case, that is certainly true. He showed bravery and loyalty.”

Harry and Hermione listened to the explanation without interrupting Andy. “Let’s talk about Dumbledore’s death,” Andy said after checking Severus, but the spell was still active. “That was planned. The old fool got himself cursed after putting on a ring and being tempted by its power. He asked Severus to kill him, so Draco wouldn’t have to and so he could end his life with dignity. He knew about Draco’s secret mission.” He looked at Hermione. “You probably remember we talked about it during Ethics. Sometimes the Killing Curse can bring an end to suffering; it’s a fast and painless way to go. Severus did what he had been asked to do and in return got called a coward. You can imagine how that stung.”

Harry was silent as he looked at Andy.

“Finally, we move on to the most important thing. I will say as little as possible, but you will see what you need to see. Severus lied and spied for Dumbledore, putting his life at risk, for Lily, to keep her son safe, to make sure her sacrifice wasn’t in vain. He loved her and he still does – his Patronus is the ultimate proof of that, as it is the same as Lily’s Patronus. A Doe.” He saw Harry’s eyes tear up, obviously he was seeing Severus call his Patronus now. “Everything he did was to protect you, for Lily, so he wasn’t happy when he learned what Dumbledore’s real plan with you was.”

He stopped here so Hermione wouldn’t hear, but he knew his words had triggered the memory of Dumbledore explaining to Severus that Harry had to die and Voldemort had to kill him. He saw the green eyes fill with shock and he raised his wand. “A few last things. I know everyone is angry at Severus for severing George’s ear with his spell, but he was actually aiming at a Death Eater. And he is also the one that allowed you to find Gryffindor’s sword. So even this year he has helped you to the best of his abilities without giving his true allegiance away.” He gave Harry a moment to watch the final scenes where Severus had helped with the sword and then severed the memory link.

“What was your part in everything?” Hermione asked.

“As deeply Severus loved Lily, I loved him. I stood by his side and he confided in me. He told me everything, because he knew I would never betray him or his trust in me. I kept his secret, but now was time for Harry to learn it. It had to happen now, if the healing spell fails–” he swallowed heavily, “–to heal his wounds, the memories will fade when his body dies. So we had to do this now.” He locked eyes with Harry. “You know everything now. Go back to the castle. You’ll have to decide for yourself what you do with the information I gave you.”

Harry nodded, he still seemed in shock. He got up, but he noticed Andy didn’t move. “Won’t you come?”

“I can’t leave Severus until I know if the spell worked or not.”

“I will… go check on Fred,” Harry said and turned to Hermione.

“I’ll catch up with you,” she promised. Harry nodded and put the Invisibility Cloak around him. Andy watched him leave. The boy had a lot to work through; he doubted he would actually go to Fred.

“Where did you learn the spell?” Hermione asked.

The question pulled him from Harry’s future and he looked at Hermione, who still seemed eager to learn. “Like the travel sphere, I learned how to do this in Africa. They let nature do a lot more for them than we do.”

“And the spell you used on him in the shack?”

Andy had his eyes on Severus, a worried frown etched on his forehead. “I didn’t know what the snake would do, but I slowed down his heart. If the snake poisoned him it would take longer for it to kill him, and in case of laceration, he wouldn’t bleed out as fast. It had to be one or the other, so I figured the only thing I could do was buy him some time.”

A shadow fell over them. “Well, well, well,” Lucius Malfoy said, aiming his wand. “I’ve been waiting for this moment. Where is Potter?”

“Not here,” Andy replied, aiming his wand at Lucius.

“Then I will settle for killing you,” Lucius hissed.

“Avada Kedavra!” Andy shouted, and the Killing Curse hit the Shrieking Shack, just barely missing Malfoy. “Your Dark Lord made it legal to use it and I won’t miss the next one. Scram!”

Lucius stumbled back. “This isn’t over, Bansing.”

Andy opened his mouth to form the letter A and Lucius quickly made a run for it, to the Forbidden Forest.

“Remind me,” Hermione said with a faint smile, “to never get on your bad side.”

“Well, Lucius isn’t really that tough. He needs to cower behind a stronger master.” Andy winked. “And I wasn’t really going to kill him.”

Severus’s feet twitched, his eyelids fluttered and then he opened them. Andy quickly dug away the grass and earth around his head and helped him sit up. “I’m so glad I wasn’t too late,” he whispered, clutching Severus’s head and pulling him against his chest.

“P-Potter?” Severus croaked.

“Knows what he needs to know, I told him everything and used a memory link between you to make him see the truth.”

Severus nodded. His arms moved around Andy and he hugged him. “Thanks… for saving me.” When he noticed Hermione, he quickly let go of Andy.

“Are you ready to double-cross Voldy now? I think your part has been played.”

“I will…” Severus began, but his voice faltered and he had to clear his throat, “I will join the battle on the right side now. If Potter knows what he needs to know,” he watched Andy nod, “then I don’t need to be on Voldemort’s side anymore.” 

The three of them went to the castle, but first they stopped where they had left Fred. He wasn’t there. They continued to the castle and went to the Great Hall. It was different now, all the tables and chairs were gone and it was crowded. The survivors stood together, hugging each other, trying to comfort each other. The injured were being treated on the raised platform where the teachers always had their meals. The dead lay in the middle of the Hall in a neat row.

“I shouldn’t be here,” Severus whispered.

“We’ll make them understand,” Andy promised him, but before he could look for McGonagall, someone hugged him.

“Thank you for saving my son!” Mrs. Weasley cried.

“I’m glad to hear that,” Andy said. “I wasn’t sure if we got him onto the grass in time…”

Suddenly she shrieked and pulled her wand. “What is _he_ doing here?!”

The Great Hall became silent as everyone stared at Hermione, Andy and Severus.

“Severus is on our side, he always was. Remember the trust Dumbledore had in him? Severus always was a double agent spying for us. Where is McGonagall?”

“It’s true!” Hermione said. “We can trust him!”

McGonagall pushed through the crowd and glared at Severus. “I hope you have some kind of proof, Bansing.”

“I can only give you my word,” Severus whispered, “that ever since Lily died, I have been on your side, fighting against the Dark Lord. I loved her and I would have died for her. And when I couldn’t… I fought to make sure her sacrifice wasn’t in vain, I fought to keep her son safe. I begged Dumbledore not to speak of it, I could not bear it. But that is the truth.”

“How many Death Eaters can conjure a Patronus?” Andy suddenly asked.

“I don’t see what that has got to do with anything,” McGonagall said.

Severus had taken his wand. “Expecto Patronum!” he called, and the doe shot from the tip of his wand. McGonagall slapped a hand over her mouth, her eyes tearing up. She recognised Lily’s Patronus.

“You loved her so much…” she began. Only love could make someone’s Patronus take the form that reminded them of their love. She looked at Severus, where she saw the pain reflect in his eyes. Then she looked at Andy. “I thought you two…”

“Severus’s heart never truly belonged to me,” he said as he put a hand on Severus’s shoulder. “But ever since Voldemort turned against Lily, Severus has been on the Dumbledore’s side. He killed him at his own request. Believe it or not, that is up to you, but let him prove his true allegiance. Let him stand with us.”

It was barely noticeable, but McGonagall nodded.

Severus didn’t stay in the Great Hall, where everyone would’ve just stared at him. He left with McGonagall to talk about what they could expect in the upcoming battle. Andy checked the rows of deceased with Hermione next to him. Both stopped when they saw Lupin and Tonks lying together. Hermione crumpled to her knees, tears flowing down her face.

“Remus…” Andy said, crouching down next to him. “Damn it…” At least Remus would be reunited with Sirius. And James.

Suddenly Voldemort’s voice rang through the air: “Harry Potter is dead. He was killed as he ran away, trying to save himself while you lay down your lives for him. We bring you his body as proof that your hero is gone. The battle is won. You have lost half of your fighters. My Death Eaters outnumber you, and the Boy Who Lived is finished. There must be no more war. Anyone who continues to resist, man, woman, or child, will be slaughtered, as will every member of their family. Come out of the castle now, kneel before me, and you shall be spared. Your parents and children, your brothers and sisters will live and be forgiven, and you will join me in the new world we shall build together.”

Everyone in the Great Hall was silent.

“Ha!” Andy said, loud enough to be heard by everyone. “Voldy is in a funny mood. If he really killed Harry, it’s not because Harry ran away. I hope no-one here actually believes that.”

“Hehehe,” Peeves snickered as he floated through the Great Hall. “Voldy…”

“Glad to make you laugh, Peeves!” Andy called after him. “It’s my only purpose in life!”

They went outside to see the proof. McGonagall was the first to scream out in anger and despair when she recognised Harry. Hermione, Ron and Ginny shouted in horror. Soon all the survivors screamed and yelled at the Death Eaters. Voldemort explained once more that Harry was a coward, but the defenders refused to believe that and defied the Dark Lord.

Using a charm, Voldemort brought a silence over them and told them Harry was dead, that he was nothing special. It was Ron who broke the charm when he shouted that Harry defeated him and once more the defenders yelled at Voldemort and the Death Eaters, but Voldemort silenced them again. As he was lying about Harry again, saying he had sneaked out of the castle and died a coward, Neville Longbottom broke free from the crowd and charged to Voldemort, who had no difficulty striking him down. Andy watched it happen – there wasn’t much else he could do.

Voldemort had a little talk with Neville, praising his courage and, since he was a pure-blood, offered him a place at his side, which Neville loudly refused. Everyone cheered for him and in response Voldemort waved his wand to summon the Sorting Hat. With a Body-Bind curse to hold Neville in place, the Dark Lord put the Hat on his head and put it ablaze, whose screams filled the courtyard. But Neville broke free of the curse and from the burning hat drew Gryffindor’s sword. With a mighty blow he severed the head of Voldemort’s Snake, and at the same time the shopkeepers and homeowners of Hogsmeade filled the Hogwarts grounds from one side and the Centaurs galloped from the Forbidden Forest to join the battle.

The Battle for Hogwarts broke out again. Once more Death Eaters and the Hogwarts defenders shot curses, jinxes and hexes at each other.

Andy and Severus joined the fight, but they soon got separated. Andy searched for him, using his Ventus Jinx to blow his enemies away from him, or stunning them with Stupefy spell. When he saw Severus he froze. Voldemort had found him and tortured him with the Cruciatus curse. His screams were the sound of nightmares. Immediately Andy ran to him, firing a yellow sphere from his wand that broke down in a thousand fireflies, all heading to Voldemort. He quickly took place between Severus and Voldemort.

“Andy Bansing,” Voldemort said. “Pure-blood, no?”

“Born that way,” Andy said, wand ready. “Why are you torturing him?”

“I had some unfinished business with him, I needed him to die.”

“Yes, for the Elder Wand, heard all about it. Defeating is enough, you don’t have to kill him!” Andy aimed his wand in the air shouting “Uhambo”, and a yellow sphere shot away.

“What are you doing?”

“Hardly relevant. But listen, don’t kill Severus. I beg you.”

“Just step aside, Bansing. I’d hate to spill pure-blood blood. Severus here is only half-blood.”

“I won’t step aside. I won’t let you kill him!”

Voldemort aimed his wand. “I will kill you both then.”

“Don’t make the same mistake you made before.”

“Mistake?”

“With Lily Potter. How did that work out for you when she was ready to die for her son and you killed her?”

A flash of hatred went over Voldemort’s face.

“I’m ready to die for Severus if I have to.”

“No…” Severus croaked. “Andy, please. I don’t… want to lose another I love. Don’t… don’t die for me…”

Andy went to Severus and took him in his arms. “Don’t worry,” he whispered. “I just needed to stall him. I won’t die and neither will you.” He glanced up briefly. “Just hold on to me.” The yellow sphere fell over them and bounced back up in a tremendous speed. Andy aimed his wand and the ball shot away from the fight, he let it land a few meters away and when it hit the ground it dissolved. Andy staggered a few steps and then crumpled to his knees.

“What was that,” Severus breathed.

“African travel spell…”

“Are you okay?”

“I used the travel spell and healing spell twice today, on top of all the other fighting. I’m exhausted. That healing spell really drains you.”

“Why did we flee?”

Andy looked up at Severus. “Tactical withdrawal and regrouping. We’re going back in and attack them from behind. Just give me a moment.” He took a few deep breaths and held out his hand so Severus could help him up. “Travel spell?”

“Can you do that again?”

“I can make us crash right in the middle of the action. Maybe on top of Voldy, that would be fun.”

Severus nodded and once again Andy shot a yellow sphere in the air. “Why do you shoot it away?” Severus asked.

“It needs to build speed, so you have to shoot it down from a height so it can bounce back up or shoot it up so gravity can pull it down.” He extended a hand. “Hold on to me, it’s on its way down again.”

Severus took his hand and smiled when their fingers intertwined. “We might die today, but I can’t think of anyone better to die with.”

“How about we try to live?” Andy asked with a wink. The sphere came down and enveloped them. Andy steered it back to Hogwarts; by the looks of it the battle had moved inside and he made the bubble go into the castle, knocking out the Death Eaters in their path and let it dissolve in the Great Hall, in the midst of the fighting. Andy and Severus stood back-to-back as they attacked the Death Eaters around them. He noticed Lucius Malfoy and his wife searching frantically for their son. Even though he had a clear shot at Lucius, he decided not to take it and turned to a Death Eater who was an actual threat.

Soon it was just Voldemort battling McGonagall, Kingsley and Slughorn at the same time, while Bellatrix Lestrange battled Hermione, Luna and Ginny. But Molly Weasley stepped up when a Killing Curse barely missed Ginny and took over the battle. When Molly killed Bellatrix, Andy shouted: “Go Molly!” through the Great Hall. The furious Voldemort wanted to take out Molly, but Harry used a Shield Charm and revealed himself.

The two sworn enemies circled each other with everyone watching them. They talked and Harry revealed a lot. It was interesting to hear, but Voldemort just didn’t understand. He smiled at Severus when Harry publicly announced he was on their side and always had been. And the sad part was, Harry even warned Voldemort against using the Elder Wand, but somehow the information just didn’t sink in, so Andy wasn’t blown away by surprise when Voldemort’s Killing Curse backfired when the Elder Wand refused to kill his master.  
Of course Harry was the big hero now, having defeated Voldemort in front of everyone.

They could hear Peeves sing somewhere in the Great Hall: “We did it, we bashed them, wee Potter’s the one. And Voldy’s gone moldy, so now let’s have fun!”

“Voldy’s gone moldy,” Andy repeated with a chuckle. “I love that ghost!” He stood next to Severus and they watched how everyone swarmed around Harry. “Voldemort killed himself, because he was blinded by his pride,” he said as everyone seemed to want to touch Harry, and Severus nodded to show he agreed with the statement. “Harry tried to warn him, but he refused to listen.” He let out a small sigh. “But I suppose the people need a hero.” He had a serious frown when he looked at Severus again. “He will always be The Boy Who Lived, but not because he is the most powerful wizard alive. Voldemort defeated himself twice, because of ignorance and pride.”

“I’m glad you’re rational like that,” Severus said.

“I’m a whole lot more. Handsome, intelligent. Just awesome in everything I do.”

“You’ll never change.”

Andy grinned as he leaned to Severus. “You wouldn’t want me to,” he said, before taking the wizard he loved in his arms and kissing him.


	11. Post-war

With Voldemort defeated and his Death Eaters either dead or arrested, things slowly went back to normal. Andy sent word to Elewa to send everyone home; the evil had been defeated and the Muggle-Born Registration nonsense was finally abolished.

The teachers of Hogwarts let all the students go home and stayed behind to clean up the mess.

McGonagall joined Andy and Severus, who used their wands to repair a wall. “We need to talk about next year,” she told them. “I’ve been approached to become Headmistress–”

“You’ll do a great job,” Andy said.

“I was thinking someone younger would perhaps be better.”

“Not me, it sounds like too much work. Severus did a good job though.”

“I neither have the desire nor the ambition for that position,” Severus said. “Besides, there will be people against it, believing I belonged to Voldemort in the end.”

McGonagall nodded. “Then I would like to talk about your teaching positions. If you still want to teach here that is.”

Andy paused his repair work and turned to face McGonagall properly. “I still want to teach, but Severus and I won’t be staying at Hogwarts during at night. We talked about it and decided on getting a house in Hogsmeade. And please let Hagrid teach Care of Magical Creatures again.”

“Of course, Hagrid will be reinstated as professor for that subject,” McGonagall said. “I want you to resume your Ethics class, but I also need someone to teach Muggle Studies. After what happened to Charity…” she choked up.

“It’s terrible what happened to her,” Andy said.

“I regret I couldn’t save her,” Severus added with a whisper. “I had to watch her being humiliated and murdered… I couldn’t help her without exposing myself.” He felt Andy’s hand on his shoulder and he looked at him with eyes that didn’t judge or condemn him but showed compassion for what he had gone through.

“I’ll teach Muggle Studies too,” Andy said, turning to McGonagall. “It’ll be fun. I like Muggles and have some excellent sources if I need additional information. I could let the Muggles give guest lectures!”

“Let’s try to keep the Ministry of Magic on our side and not invite too many Muggles into the castle,” McGonagall said and she turned to Severus. “What about you, Severus?”

“I’m not sure.”

“Meaning?”

“He means that he’ll either open a potions shop in Hogsmeade selling home-made love potions and poisons to customers,” Andy said before Severus could say anything, “or I’ll talk him into teaching here again. Are you keeping Slughorn as teacher for Potions?”

“As long as he wants to be our Potions Master I intend to keep him. But like always, we do have a vacancy for Defence Against the Dark Arts.”

Severus stared at her. “You would… want me to teach that?”

“I have complete faith in you, but I haven’t decided on who the Head of Slytherin will be…”

“Make Severus your Deputy Headmaster,” Andy suggested. “He has proven he is well equipped for the task.”

“And if Slughorn desires to be the Head of Slytherin he can be,” Severus added, “I have no desire to fight over that title. Since I won’t be staying at Hogwarts at night, he would be the most logical decision. A Head should be available for their House day and night…”

McGonagall couldn’t do anything but agree with that and promised to properly appoint them for the teaching positions. She left them as she had more work to do and Andy turned to Severus.

“Do you really want to do it? Live together?”

Severus nodded.

“If your Patronus ever changes, I will be very disappointed.”

Severus was silent for a moment. “It won’t,” he stated. “If I think about her, my feelings… are unchanged.” He glanced aside. “Don’t think that means I don’t love you, it’s just–”

“Don’t worry, I know,” Andy assured him.


End file.
